


All About Chemistry

by Indehed



Series: Biology [2]
Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Alpha Steve McGarrett, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - High School, M/M, Omega Danny "Danno" Williams
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-09
Updated: 2018-05-29
Packaged: 2019-01-15 07:38:14
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 30,570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12316695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Indehed/pseuds/Indehed
Summary: Danny is the new kid at school and his reputation is pretty non-existent. The last thing he wants is for rumors to fly after what he and Steve got up to during their study session.***picks up straight after the events of 'Can't Mistake My Biology'***





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So doing the fic amnesty and finding old unfinished things on my hard drive actually sparked this one back to me, so I decided to run with it while the inspiration was here. This will probably last a few chapters, most of it I think will be pretty cute with them as teenagers but I do plan to introduce a little spanner into the works with an alpha who's a bit of an asshole. But this is high school, so don't worry about my usual level of bad guy torture etc. This will be a little bit lighter.

The rest of the evening in the Williams household had been awkward. At least, that's how it felt for Danny. He felt like something had changed and he felt like he was sure his parents knew something was up with him but weren't asking. And when Matty got back from practice he'd burst into Danny's room (without knocking, the brat) and had commented on it being funky smelling. Danny had just blushed and yelled at him to get out and leave him alone. 

He'd barely slept through the night, his mind whirring in ten directions at once as he came to terms with the fact that he'd had sex for the first time and it was nothing like he'd expected a first time to go. 

For one, he'd basically had sex with a stranger. A fucking football jock who didn't even really know him. 

Of course, the guy had also been able to convince Danny to sleep with him just by talking about biology and sex and maybe Danny had just been suckered in by peer pressure. Which wasn't like him… was it? He thought of himself as a modern omega who planned to have a great career and wouldn't take any alpha shit and yet hadn't he just crumbled in front of a good looking alpha who had showed just a little bit of interest in him?

Maybe he was still stressed from the move. He'd only been in Hawaii for a month and was getting used to the place and the people. He didn't have many friends - maybe he'd just been swept up in the moment of spending time with someone. He missed home, he missed Stella (she was going to college now so had no reason to move all the way from Jersey to Hawaii like the rest of the family). He missed good pizza, he missed the accent. People in Hawaii spoke weird sometimes and used their own language a lot and he felt like he was being excluded when they shifted into it. 

But even if Danny could excuse his own behavior (it was still stupid of him, regardless), what the hell had Steve been thinking?

That plagued him the most and he tossed and turned considering everything. 

This wasn't some cheesy romcom about love at first sight. He couldn't help replaying that moment in his head where he'd accused Steve of coming over wanting to get laid and just how Steve had defended himself. But of course he'd say the right words. For a jock and an alpha, the boy was still smart, of course he wouldn't admit to planning for it. 

So they'd had sex. Now what?

What was Steve thinking now? Was he still smug as all hell because he'd laid a male omega. A notch on the bedpost? Something to brag about to his friends on the football team. He'd disappeared pretty quick after and the sex had been kinda awkward. Maybe Danny was a bit of a romantic since he always thought his first time would be with someone he was dating, maybe someone he was in love with. This had been like a one night stand. They hadn't kissed until after and even then it wasn't with any kind of intensity. It was like…. 'thanks for letting me fuck you'… or something. 

Urgh. Or maybe it wasn't. Maybe it was just awkward because it was awkward. Because both of them didn't really know what they were doing. Maybe Steve had been on the level with him.

But he couldn't chance it. 

Man, he already felt like an outsider at school. If it got out that Steve had laid him what the hell would that do to his status? He knew Steve would get the high fives and Danny would be treated like some kind of slut and suddenly have other jocks shoving their groins at him and making lewd comments. 

He needed to get some sleep and stop tossing and turning and worrying. 

But dammit that was exactly what was going to happen. Everyone was going to know. And everyone was going to look at him like he was the biggest slut on the planet. 

*

Breakfast was rushed. Considering he'd been up most of the night, somehow he'd managed to sleep in fifteen minutes too long and had fallen behind. It didn't help that Bridget had a melt down in the bathroom that morning and took extra long getting ready. 

When Danny ran out the door, bag on his back and skateboard under one arm, he still had a piece of toast hanging out of his mouth. 

He ran to his locker, getting there just before the bell. By the time he was sitting down in Spanish class, he felt hot and sweaty and it was barely 8am. At least for a while he'd been able to forget worrying about Steve and concentrate on worrying about just getting to school on time but now he found himself returning to that same thought process. 

The teacher was going over things he'd already covered back home in Newark at his old school, so he drifted off into his own thoughts that weren't helped by the fact that the classroom had a good view of the sports fields, even if they were empty. And the closer it got to the bell for the end of first period, the more nervous he got - next he had biology.

He grabbed what he needed from his locker, holding the books to his chest as he made his way into the biology lab. There were a few kids already there and he made his way to the same desk he'd been sitting at since his first day here. He kept his head down a bit, not sure what to do. Then a shadow crossed over him. 

"Hey," Steve said, smile on his face. As Danny looked up, Steve slid himself onto the stool next to him. 

"What are you doing? You sit next to Rollins."

"It's not the law or anything. Jenkins doesn't mind where we sit so long as we don't annoy him."

"But-"

"I'm sitting here," Steve told him, determination in his eyes that said his mind wasn't changing and the small touch to Danny's forearm was to be an end to the conversation. 

As Steve got his things out, Danny looked around the class, noticing the few glances sent their way. Rollins turned her head and sent a confused look back at Steve, but the alpha merely gave her a curt smile in return. There was no time to discuss anything further as Jenkins arrived in the class. 

"Pop quiz!" he called out. "Though you all knew it was coming, so not really 'pop'." He brandished a bunch of papers in the air before walking up the aisles distributing them. "Let's see how much you've learned in the last two weeks about omegas. I don't expect the alphas among you to get more than 60%, if previous years are anything to go by."

"Challenge accepted, sir," Steve said and made the rest of the class laugh. 

Jenkins slowed as he reached them. "Interesting desk choice today, McGarrett. I hope you don't plan on doing any cheating here," he waved between the two of them. 

"No, sir, I would never," Steve responded as he took the offered sheets of paper and handed one over to Danny. 

"Danny, a word of warning - you might want to be careful with your work; alphas can be tricky," Jenkins told him. He was an omega himself and had been pretty cool with Danny. He'd become one of his favorite teachers as he never let the alphas get away with anything and he came from the mainland and Danny felt an affinity with him. 

"Yes, sir," Danny replied and crooked his arm while moving a few things so that Steve couldn't see his work. The alpha just grinned at him, nudging his elbow against him and then leaving his arm so close to Danny's that he could feel the heat radiating from him. 

There was quiet while the class concentrated, though Danny could feel it each time Steve turned his head to him, furtively watching. As they packed their things away, Steve reached for Danny's forearm. "What you got next?"

"Economics," he answered. 

"Ouch. That's something I can't wrap my head around," Steve told him. "I struggle with math. Which is weird because science is easier for me. I'm heading to geography, but I'll see you at lunch right?"

"Well, I mean, I gotta eat," Danny answered.

"I'll see you at lunch," Steve reiterated then bounded off. 

Danny watched as the boy headed down the corridor, Catherine jogging to catch up to him, probably wondering why he hadn't sat with her. 

Steve had mentioned that he'd had sex before with a beta female. Catherine was a beta female. They seemed close as well, he'd heard rumors about them. Guess the rumors were true.

By the time lunch rolled around Danny had more nerves in his tummy than hunger pains. He took deep breaths before entering the cafeteria but the noise of talking and clinking was loud enough to disguise anyone's conversations. It had only been half a day and since he wasn't popular they probably hadn't noticed anything different about him. And maybe Steve hadn't said anything to anyone. Maybe he'd been true to his word on that. 

He grabbed a tray and loaded up before scanning the crowd for the best place to sit. His eyes were immediately drawn to the football players at their table. You couldn't miss the red and white of Kukui High that they wore a lot of the time. Being alphas, most of them pretty damn big and loud, they didn't seem to have learned how to sit - some were standing, some were sitting on the table with their feet on the seats. All of them took up more space than they needed.

Steve was right there in the middle of the group. He was laughing and smiling and joking and Danny could see some of the other guys high-fiving him, shaking his shoulders, congratulating him. One of the big guys looked somehow shocked in an impressed way by whatever was being discussed. 

All of the hand gestures and the way they seemed to be just made Danny's heart sink and his cheeks burned. This was it. This was the moment where Steve bragged about his conquest. Probably talking about how easy it was just to rock up at Danny's house and then about an hour later he was coming inside a tight, virgin pussy. 

Shit. 

Danny couldn't just drop his food, but he made a beeline to the furthest, emptiest table and inhaled his lunch as quickly as he could before escaping the hall. He was walking in the quad before he even realized where he was going, just trying to get away from the sound of teenagers laughing and having fun. He found himself beside a tree on the edge of the school's property. 

He'd been here before on a random wander, discovering that he kind of liked the view. Sure there was a fence in the way, but beyond that was more green space that then turned into rocks and sand and then the ocean. He liked to think it faced the mainland but he didn't know that for sure. But he felt that when he looked out from here he could imagine home was out there. A place where he had good friends of all sub-genders (even if there were dickhead alphas everywhere). A place where he'd enjoyed playing baseball but had been told on arrival in Hawaii that they only offered softball for omegas and the school team was pretty bad. A place where he'd been best friends with a couple of betas who never looked at him differently. Hell he'd even dated a female beta for a little while and maybe that would have turned into something if he'd had more time but the move had happened and he and Rachel decided it was best just to break up. 

"You okay?" Steve's voice came from behind. 

Danny tensed up, hugged his arms around himself and didn't answer as he took a step further round the tree. 

"Saw you rushing out the door. Did you even eat? Did something happen?" Steve tried as he came closer. 

"What are they saying about me?" Danny asked, figuring he might as well find out now. Maybe he could steel himself for it before the afternoon classes started. 

"Who?"

"All your friends. Everyone. I can feel their judge-y stares, hot on my face."

"Wait, you think I told them?" Steve asked, finishing the distance between them and standing right in front of Danny, both of them sheltered from prying eyes by the wide tree. "I'm not that kind of alpha, I'm not going to go around bragging about anyone I've had sex with. Did you even know I'd been with anyone before you and I did it?"

"No, but I'm new. Maybe the gossip hadn't caught up with me."

"Put it this way, anyone who does know, didn't hear it from me," Steve said and it felt like there was a story behind that but Danny wasn't going to pry. "What makes you think I told everyone about what happened?"

"I saw you at your jock lunch table. All the ribbing and them congratulating you, I just figured-"

"Well, you figured wrong. We were being really boring and talking about football. Not about sex. Not about you," Steve came closer, hands reaching for Danny's arms and rubbing up and down them. "Are you okay after everything? From yesterday, I mean."

"Yeah, I guess. I had to wear a pad today, I was worried 'cause there was a little bit of blood after," he admitted and he had no idea why he would do so as the embarrassment creeped onto his cheeks again. 

Steve ran the back of a hand over Danny's cheek. "Guess I'm big," he said smugly, but the concern for Danny was evident in his eyes. "Does it hurt?"

"No, it's just weird. Like I can still kind of feel it, or something."

"Yeah? That's kind of a turn on," Steve said and leaned impossibly closer. He shifted to brace an arm against the trunk of the tree as his face hovered over Danny's, breath mingling before he finished the distance and pressed a soft, chaste kiss to Danny's lips. He didn't pull back far, instead he kept his shadow over Danny, carefully rubbed their noses together and looked down between them to where his other hand was idly curled in Danny's t-shirt. "Listen, since it's Friday I thought we could go out tonight."

"Go out?"

"They have this monthly drive in movie down by the beach. It's a bit lame but it means that if we're in the car and the movie sucks then we can talk and not annoy anyone around us. Besides, I want to know everything about you."

"A date?"

Steve smiled, licking his lips and still so close to Danny. "Why does that surprise you, Danny Williams?"

Danny shrugged. "Just… I'm not going to go out with you if you think I'm an easy lay or something."

"I don't think you're easy," Steve told him. "Right now I'm beginning to think you're actually very difficult. It's just a date."

"Fine, but I've only been here a month and already I've had sex with the quarterback despite barely knowing him. The last thing I need is a bunch of alphas thinking I'm a slut that'll have sex with them."

Steve slammed a hand on the trunk. "No other alphas," he said, eyes almost black in how the anger had boiled up inside him. 

Danny tensed and held a hand up. "Whoa."

"Sorry," Steve shook his head and finally took a step back, holding himself placatingly. "Sorry, I just. Guess I went a little 'protective alpha' on you there."

Danny heard the bell ringing. "We should go."

"Yeah. So I'll pick you up tonight?"

"Okay. Hey, how do you even know where I live?"

"We walk the same route to school. I live just a block further down." He sidled a little closer again. "Sometimes I like it when I walk behind you and get to watch."

It took Danny a moment to realize what Steve was referring to and his hand briefly went to his own ass in some pseudo-protective way. "Get to class," was all he could think of to say and Steve laughed as he walked ahead of Danny. 

"I'll pick you up at seven!"

*

Clara leaned on the door frame of Danny's room and watched as he stared in the mirror. "First date in Hawaii, huh?"

"It's not a big deal, Ma. It's just a movie."

"You like this boy?"

"I wouldn't have agreed to go out with him if I didn't."

"Okay," she held a hand up in defense. "I just never thought you'd be the kind to go for the star quarterback. That's all."

"I'm not. But he's… maybe he's different. I dunno. How they do things in Hawaii is backwards, right? Maybe that means I end up being a bit backwards myself." He grabbed a few things and shoved them in his jeans pockets and checked one more time that his hair looked okay before moving to his door where his mom was still blocking it. 

She reached out to him and put her hands on his shoulders. "You look very handsome."

"Ma, don't start. We're just hanging out."

"Whatever you say, sweetie," she smiled at him and moved aside so that he could rush downstairs when the doorbell rang. "Have a good time!" she yelled after him. 

He made it to the door before Bridget did and he shooed her away, waiting until her stupid kissy face was back in the living room before he opened it. He didn't give Steve much time to see or hear anything from the inside before he was closing the door behind them. "Let's go," he said. 

"You don't want me to say hi to your mom or dad or anything?" Steve asked, a little amused.

"Dad's at work, mom's making dinner and my sister is being annoying so no. Don't need you to meet anyone." Danny led the way to the street while Steve trailed a little behind. 

"I've got a sister, too. Younger. I feel your pain," he reached his car and opened the passenger door for Danny like a gentleman. 

Danny looked at the black, old-fashioned car. "This is yours?"

"Dad and I have been fixing it up. He let me take it out tonight since it's needs a run. I'm not allowed to get my own until I'm seventeen."

Danny climbed into the car. The seats were spacious and for an old car it wasn't too bad for comfort. Unlike with newer cars that had individual seats, this one had one long bench style seat with a beige upholstery that seemed new. 

They kept the radio down low on the journey and talked about each others' family - siblings and what their parents did for a living. Driving into the parking lot, Steve was able to grab a space just to the left of the screen. It wasn't too busy and the cars were spaced well enough apart that you got a modicum of privacy. Steve told Danny to wait where he was while he organized everything. It allowed Danny a few minutes to compose himself. He did a little snooping in the glove compartment but didn't find anything interesting. He looked around them, trying to squint into the other cars and trucks nearby and he watched a few people as they walked back and forth to the concession stand.

When the door opened again, Steve passed over a bucket of popcorn and a large soda and he fiddled with the radio to make sure it was tuned into the drive-in's frequency. 

"I figured we could share," he said, pointing to the snacks Danny was trying to organize, finding a place to put the soda when Steve stepped in to help and lifted the center console under the dash where there was a cup holder. 

"Fine by me," Danny answered, though he only then realized it meant the drink as well as the popcorn and a warning bell went off in his head that it was possessive alphas who dictated what omegas ate and drank. 

Steve smiled as he leaned back, spreading himself out and getting comfortable. He watched the advertisements playing on the screen as he spoke. "So what was with the move to Hawaii? It was to do with your dad's job, right?"

"Yeah. He accepted a job out here but it's not like he couldn't find something like it at home. Sure, I guess the promotion was sooner. But he really took it because something happened with my Uncle and I guess he wanted to put in some distance. A new start."

"What happened with your uncle? If you don't mind me asking."

"He died. Was killed, actually. He uh, he got mixed up with some bad guys and they killed him. Dad works with law enforcement sometimes, you know, firefighters do that. He felt uncomfortable and wanted to move out of state. Didn't expect to be **this** far out of state."

"So what did you do for fun back in New Jersey?"

"Usual kid stuff," Danny shrugged as his hand dug into the popcorn. "Hang out places, we'd skateboard a lot. Movies, take in a baseball game or whatever."

"Rumor has it you wanted to play when you got here and coach had to say no. Hawaii can be protective of omegas. More so than the east coast states."

"Sucks," Danny nodded. "I'm good, too. Know I would have made the team."

The movie started and the boys concentrated on the screen. He could tell, however, that Steve wasn't the kind of guy who could sit still for long. After the popcorn and soda were finished, Steve offered to take them to the trash and when he came back he slid further towards Danny on the bench style seating of the car and threw an arm around the back.

"Oh, that's just gross," he commented at the sight of the alien giving birth on the big screen. 

Danny rolled his eyes. "Human babies come out gross as well, you know. Covered in all sorts of goopy stuff. It's perfectly natural."

"Yeah, but I didn't need to see it so close up," Steve said, eyes back and forth between the screen and Danny. "This movie is really weird, even for the 80s."

"It's good. I'm enjoying it."

"Seriously?" Steve asked. "I keep losing track of what the hell is going on."

"It's not that tough to follow," Danny admonished. 

"It is when my attention is split between it and you. And you're winning," his fingers tapped Danny's far shoulder then massaged at the back of his neck. Steve was watching him intently with a smirk. 

Danny looked between him and the screen a few times. "What are you thinking?"

Steve shrugged then slid even closer, hand still on Danny's neck while the other reached out to his thigh. "How pretty you are. And smart and funny. Strong, too. Stubborn but in a good way. You're new and refreshing. Something different around here."

"Thanks?" Danny said, not entirely sure how to respond. 

"And I'm thinking about yesterday. Been thinking about it all day and all of last night. I had to stop myself thinking about it in french class or I was going to get a hard on." The hand on Danny's thigh skirted a little higher and he straightened himself in response. 

"Steve, I'm not really sure what's going on here."

"Danny, I like you. You got here and you walked in the building and when I saw you something clicked in my brain and it just said… 'we're going to get along great'. You really could have turned me away from your door last night but instead you invited me in. Don't you feel something too?"

"I don't know you."

"Isn't that the point of dating? To get to know one another?" Before Danny could answer, Steve continued. "Look I know that you've just moved here. You're the fish out of water and you're just trying to get to grips with the place. I get it. I'm just asking you to give me a shot. Let me help you get used to the place, maybe find some new stuff for you to like. And I know you don't trust me yet but I'd like to get to a point where you do."

Steve's hand still massaging at the back of his neck felt good, almost lulling. What he was saying made sense and even though Danny still worried about his reputation he couldn't deny that he actually did feel something. He didn't know what it was, and he knew it was more than just recognition of how handsome Steve was. The only way he was really going to find out how he felt would be to spend more time with the boy. "Okay," he answered succinctly.

"Okay," Steve agreed.

"Just maybe we take things slower. I'm still not even sure how yesterday happened. I don't want that to be an expectation."

"We'll go at your pace," Steve agreed. He quickly moved his hand from Danny's thigh and moved it over Danny's other leg then pulled them both round so his legs were over Steve's.

"What are you-"

"It'll be more comfortable for making out," Steve said. "No expectation of sex. But I've gotta kiss you again," he told Danny, his hand running up and down Danny's leg as he leaned in, capturing his lips. 

This was different from the few pecks and chaste kisses they'd shared before. Steve was going for it, using his tongue to lick across Danny's lips, opening them up, pressing inside. It was an exploration, careful at first. _Sensual_ \- which wasn't something Danny had experienced before and it gave him butterflies as he gripped into Steve's t-shirt and the alpha wrapped around him, holding him close and warm. 

Their noses bumped as angles changed with chances to breathe, but the kissing just continued on. Danny didn't even feel he was slipping down the seat until he noticed the press of the upholstery against his back and the way Steve was leaning his weight to the side so as not to smother him. Steve made no move to do more, Danny couldn't tell if the alpha was getting hard at this angle, but he was keeping himself in check. Hands explored but never dipped under clothing and everything was unrushed, calm, and somehow content. He was comfortable being kissed by Steve, held by him, covered by him.

A sudden loud bang brought both of them to awareness. 

"McGarrett! I recognize this car, I know you're in there!" A voice followed and Danny realized the hood of the car had been thumped on and now there were people just outside the car. 

Steve lifted up but hovered over Danny protectively as he too came to some realizations. "Freddie, dammit," Steve murmured as he hung his head and looked at Danny apologetically before he sat up and rolled down the window. "Freddie, what the hell!"

"Movie's over, McGarrett. Kelly and I got curious as to why your car wasn't bothering to move," the other jock tried to see past Steve to who he was with while still holding hands with a cheerleader type. "New guy, wow. You move fast, smooth dog. I honestly expected to see Rollins in the car with you."

"Does Catherine know you're here with someone else?" Kelly asked. 

Steve glanced over at Danny and put an arm out across him to keep him where he was, maybe worried he'd try and get out and run or something, but it was also a typical alpha move if territory was encroached on. "You know she and I aren't a thing."

"But you were a thing," Freddie pointed out. 

"And does she know you're not a thing anymore?" Kelly asked in almost a repeat of her first question. The two were probably friends. And now that these two had seen Steve and Danny making out, it really would become gossip that they were somehow together.

Steve turned to Danny, wanting to appease him. "Catherine and I aren't a thing. There's no thing. There might have been something at one point but we never called it anything. And there was never anything official."

"You took her to the dance at the end of last year. That's kind of an official thing," Kelly pointed out and Steve just slumped, rubbing his fingers into his eyes. 

"Guys, Danny and I are on a date and you're ruining it."

Freddie just shook off the comment with a 'pfft'. "Everybody here is on a date, but listen, the guys are going to hang further down the beach. Apparently Marco got his hands on some of his dad's liquor, so we're going to go see what he has. You in?"

"No, I'm not in. And I doubt Chin will be either and I'm surprised you'd risk it. You know your father will kill you if you go home smelling of alcohol. I love you, man, but you gotta think more sometimes. And you can start right now by taking care of Kelly and letting me and Danny get back to enjoying our time together."

"Okay, man," Freddie stuck his hand into the car and patted Steve's shoulder. "You're right. Last thing I need is the old man getting on at me. I already got a lecture about the C in algebra. We'll see you tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah, yeah. Tomorrow," Steve waved him off and rolled the window back up. He leaned back in the seat and took a breath before looking over at Danny. "Sorry about him. He means well, but he doesn't always think things through."

"So you and Catherine, huh?"

"We're not a-"

"Thing. Yeah, that came up a few times in that conversation. But she's the person you slept with before, right? You told me it was a female beta."

"Uh, yeah. We hung out a lot last term, went to the dance, we were together until summer but then she disappeared to some kind of camp and didn't even call the entire time. When she got back she acted like she hadn't been gone for those eight weeks and I just… she didn't even realize how selfish it was. We're still friends but I knew we shouldn't be together. I know for a fact that the minute she leaves for college she'll forget about everyone here."

"That's cold," Danny said. 

"Yeah," Steve agreed. "No point in having something when you know for sure it's going to end. I mean I know a lot of high school relationships **do** end, but I'd still like something with a bit more possibility to it. A little more mystery." There was silence for a few moments. "I should get you home," Steve then said and cranked the car to life. 

"Yeah," Danny agreed.

When they pulled up outside Danny's house, Steve kept the engine running. "I had a great time tonight."

"Me too," Danny said. "We should, uh, we should do it again. Hang out. Get to know each other."

"How about tomorrow?" Steve said. "Some of us head to the mall and hang. Sometimes we go into the ice rink for a bit. You're from a cold state, you should be better on skates than us, right?"

"I know a few moves," Danny smiled. 

"I can come by after lunch. I won't have the car. We'll have to take the bus if that's okay."

"I'm used to taking a bus, that's fine," Danny answered. 

Steve leaned over, cupping Danny's face as he kissed him goodnight. Danny let himself out and watched as Steve waved and drove off. 

"I'm home!" he called out when he closed the door behind him. His mom and dad were watching TV in the living room and he expected the others were in their rooms, maybe already in bed. 

"Hi, honey. Have a good time?" Clara called over to him. "What movie was it?"

"Some old 80s one. _Enemy Mine_? I liked it. They had decent popcorn, too. Listen, I'm going out tomorrow afternoon to the mall. Is that okay?" he asked as he hung just inside the living room. 

"You going with this same boy?" Eddie asked, turning to see Danny and give him an expectant look. 

"Yes, pop, it's with Steve. But there's going to be a lot of other people there, too. It's a group thing. We're going ice skating."

"That's fine, honey. It's good to see you making friends," Clara told him. 

"This boy keeping his hands to himself or do I need to speak to his father?" Eddie asked. 

"Pop!" Danny exclaimed, screwing his face up, really not wanting to have this conversation. 

"What?" Eddie asked. "I was a sixteen year old alpha once, I know what goes on in that kind of young brain. He does anything you don't like, you let me know."

"It's okay, pop. I know what I'm doing," Danny said then stomped away before he could give himself away or blush any further. 

"Is he a good kisser?" Bridget asked from her bedroom doorway as Danny walked past. 

"Wouldn't you like to know," Danny stuck his tongue out at her and then shut his door behind him with finality. He locked it so that neither of his siblings could annoy him and he dropped onto the bed. He rubbed at his lips, imagining a tingle still there from the press of Steve's against him. He reached down his body, slipped a hand under his jeans and underwear and felt around his pussy remembering that Steve had already touched him there, already fucked his dick into him. God, he could get wet again just thinking about it. 

Steve McGarrett was a strange kind of alpha. He seemed really sympathetic and caring. Seemed to understand that Danny didn't want to be controlled and needed time to get his own thoughts in place. But at the same time he did things that were so typical alpha - possessive, protective, dominating. 

Danny had always felt some kind of fear in him when he'd seen alphas act like that before. Felt that it was unfair, unwanted, the kind of behavior that shouldn't be acceptable in today's society. 

But when Steve's eyes had been focused on him, his full attention, and he wanted to have Danny to himself? He could admit a thrill had gone through him. 

Maybe that was what he was feeling. That elusive reason for why he was drawn to the young alpha. Maybe he was the first alpha he'd met that Danny felt he could allow in, that he could trust. He hoped he was right. He couldn't imagine what it would be like to be here in a place he just couldn't get used to and also nurse a broken heart at the same time.


	2. Chapter 2

Danny didn't make it to the door in time and came to a crashing halt before running into his father's back. 

Eddie was dressed in the slacks and polo shirt of the fire house and was leaving for his shift at just the wrong time and had been inches from the door as Steve arrived. He leaned on the frame as he opened the door and looked the teenage alpha on the other side up and down.

"Danny, you're friend is here," he said, barely turning his head back into the house. 

"Yeah, dad, I figured, thanks. You wanna move out the way so I can get out of here?" he pushed by his father.

"Hi, Mr. Williams," Steve said and held his hand out to shake Eddie's. "I'm Steven McGarrett. It's nice to meet you, sir."

"Uh-huh," Eddie answered, slowly shaking the boy's hand, still appraising him. "McGarrett. Dad's a cop. I hear good things."

"Thank you, sir," Steve responded, his hand released and he stuffed both in his pockets nervously. 

"Football player, I gather. How's the team shaping up?" Eddie asked in a mixture of small talk and investigation. 

"We're doing okay. Lost the championship last year but we're gonna fight to take it back this year."

"That's the spirit," Eddie told him.

"Dad, we kinda need to get going. We've got a bus to catch."

"Right. To go to the mall and the little ice rink they have there," Eddie dug into his pocket and pulled out a twenty dollar bill that he handed to Danny.

"Mom already gave me money for lunch," Danny told him but Eddie insisted he take the extra cash.

"In case you need it. For a cab home or anything." The message was clear. If Danny didn't like what was going on, if he needed to get away from Steve, then his dad was giving him the means to do so. Danny watched Steve swallow a lump in his throat as he rocked back on his heels a little, not knowing what to say.

"Thanks, Dad," Danny said as he grabbed the money and stuffed it in his pocket. "I'll be home for dinner."

"Be careful. Have a good day," Eddie told him as Danny grabbed at Steve's elbow to turn him so they could hurry away. 

"Bye, dad!" Danny yelled back and Steve threw out his own goodbye to Mr. Williams as they made it to the sidewalk and turned in the direction of the main road. 

"You okay?" Steve asked as they slowed to walk at a more normal pace. 

"Yeah. Sorry about him."

"He's just being a dad," Steve shrugged. "Mine read me the riot act this morning. All about how to behave, it was embarrassing."

"How to behave? Like what?"

"Be a gentleman. Keep the alpha at bay, not freak out, stuff like that. I don't know what he thinks I'm gonna do. I mean, I've totally got this covered. People don't really go feral, he was just trying to scare me straight but I'm sixteen not six."

"I wouldn't let you anyway," Danny told him. "Go full on alpha, I mean. I can take care of myself."

"I already got that impression," Steve smiled down at him before changing the subject slightly. "Was everything okay when you got home last night?"

"Yeah. I kinda just went straight to bed."

"Really? And what did you do in bed?" Steve teased.

"I went to sleep, you goof," Danny answered with just the hint of a blush since he knew he'd touched himself a little while thinking about Steve but there was no way he was fluffing the boy's ego telling him that. "Or I tried to, anyway. Bridget was playing music really loud and it was some godawful boy band crap. I woke up singing it this morning, too. My brain needs rinsed out."

Steve laughed and began a story about his sister, Mary Ann, and her own bad music tastes. Somewhere along the way they wound up holding hands and on the bus Steve comfortably threw an arm around Danny's shoulder.

It all seemed overly familiar for an alpha and omega, both age 16, who had been on just one date.

But then again, Danny reminded himself, they'd already done much more than that.

*

They made their way through the throng of Saturday shoppers until they got to the ice rink. 

For a few moments, they watched people on the ice, Steve trying to spot his friends. He pointed out a few and reminded Danny of their names. Most of them seemed to be on the ice and clowning around, but as Steve pointed to where Chin and his girlfriend Malia were sitting things out, Danny had to ask why they weren't having fun with everyone else. "Chin broke his ankle at the end of last season. It's why I've been starting so far this year. He'll be back in a few weeks. He's already doing great with his recovery. He'll be the starting QB in less than a month."

"You don't think you'll keep your spot?"

"I'm good, but Chin's a senior. I'll probably go between JV and varsity depending but unless something else happens to Chin I think he'll come back strong. I'll give him a tough time of it, but he deserves his place on the roster. You seen Freddie anywhere?"

"Nope."

"He must still be gearing up on the benches or something. Come on," He slung an arm around Danny again and they went to pay for the skate rental and locker.

"Smooth dog!" Freddie greeted Steve when they got nearer the ice.

"Danny, you remember last night's buzz kill, right?" Steve introduced them properly. "Where's Kelly?"

"She went with Catherine to do some shopping, I dunno. Said they'd be back pretty quickly though."

"Did Kelly tell Catherine about me and Danny? She's not being weird about it, is she?"

"Hell if I know," Freddie shrugged. "I told some guys you might be bringing someone. Figured if you were keeping anything secret then you wouldn't have been making out in public last night."

"We were in the car, it's not the same thing as being in public."

"Why would you keep it a secret anyway?" Freddie asked. "So you're seeing the new kid, so what? You worried people will judge you 'cause he's not a cheerleader? He's an omega, people will totally get it."

Danny tensed at the way Freddie was talking about him like he wasn't there. But he also knew the guy didn't mean anything bad, he was just a bit clueless. Must have got knocked in the head one too many times on the field. He also got a feeling Steve wouldn't be such good friends with him if he was an asshole. It was an interesting thought that he trusted Steve's judgement of people's characters so fully.

"It's not about any of that," Steve told him. "It was our first date, it's brand new is all. I don't want people talking when they don't know anything."

"I get it," Freddie said, nodding at both of them. "Besides, you're still getting used to the territory, right?" he said to Danny.

"Yeah, this place is nothing like New Jersey. Takes a lot of getting used to the changes." He felt Steve squeeze his shoulder before the hand slipped down to the small of his back. 

"Cool, oh hey, the girls are back, I'm gonna-" Freddie gestured away and then did his best to walk in his skates until he hit the ice and then glided over to the wall the girls were leaning against. Danny watched as he leaned over it to kiss Kelly and then all three of them laughed about something. 

Steve was already sitting and getting the skates on his feet and Danny quickly followed suit. They made sure everything was stowed in the small locker and then made their way to the ice. For Danny, it was easy. Stella had taken lessons for a while when they were kids and Danny had gone along after school sometimes. He'd even played a bit of hockey, but omegas weren't allowed to play in the leagues so he didn't get a real chance to learn.

Steve took a bit longer to gain his balance and skirted the edge of the wall while Danny slowly skated beside him, turning round and skating backwards to taunt him, all the while being aware of where other kids were on the busy ice. 

Balance mostly gained, Steve pushed off from the wall. He occasionally threw his arms to the side to keep himself upright and there were moments he found himself tripping over his own feet. Worried, Danny reached out and took his hands to help guide him. "Just take it slowly," he laughed. "Use your core rather than relying on brute strength. One foot at a time!" he admonished as Steve got a little cocky. 

He kept his hand in Steve's as the boy acclimatized and got faster. They moved around the other people, trying to zig and zag though it was mostly others who had to get around them as Steve didn't seem so able to get out of the way. They laughed, mostly at how bad Steve was at what he was doing and Danny tried to give him some pointers and Steve slipped and fell a few times. 

"I've gotta learn a better way to stop than just falling on my ass," Steve joked as he got up again.

"Just drag your foot behind, but if you're worried just let yourself slow at the side wall," Danny told him.

"Go wait and watch, see if I'm doing it right," Steve asked.

Danny pretty much gave Steve a demonstration as he glided to a smooth stop and then turned to lean back against the wall as Steve made a circuit around again. He gathered more speed than he really should and as he came back around he lost a bit of balance with his trailing leg and instead came flying straight at Danny who braced for the impact as Steve rammed into him.

Danny had screwed his eyes up in preparation and finding himself still standing, slowly opened them. Steve had managed to bracket Danny in, an arm on either side of him by the wall and he was smiling. "Hey," he said. "Looks like I stopped in the right place."

"But that's not how you were supposed to do it," Danny pointed out. 

Steve shrugged. "My way was better," he replied before dipping his head down and kissing Danny's lips; still aware they were in public and keeping the contact light. 

"You did that on purpose," Danny accused him with narrowing eyes. Steve smiled, kissed him again and just before he could say anything else he lost his footing and fell to the ground. He grabbed for Danny and took him down with him, both sprawling on the ice, Danny lying half on top of Steve as they both dissolved into giggles. 

"Maybe it's time we got off the ice," Danny eventually said. 

"Yeah, if I injure myself, coach will kill me," Steve said. 

Together they were able to get back to their feet and gingerly made their way to the rink entrance, climbing out while still holding onto each other for support.

After returning their skates and getting their stuff from the locker, they made their way to the food court. Danny had figured they'd just get burgers or a hot dog or something simple but Steve dragged him to a different kiosk.

"Have you never had Indian food before?"

"In Jersey we normally eat Italian. We're not very international," Danny answered. 

"You need to try this. You'll love it."

"But I-" Danny got out before biting his own tongue. Steve had moved forward to the counter and was already ordering for the two of them. Danny wasn't sure if this was another alpha behavior - controlling Danny's food again like with the popcorn the night before - or whether it was simply enthusiasm. 

Steve clearly enjoyed introducing Danny to things - he'd spent half the bus journey pointing out local landmarks and he'd randomly talked about wanting to go hiking the next weekend because he wanted Danny to see some old Hawaiian cave paintings or something. It was endearing to see him like that - like an excited puppy dog. He just hoped that Steve's cuteness factor didn't blind him to overt alpha behavior that he knew he'd have to nip in the bud if it got more pronounced or… intentional.

Of course, despite his internal protestations about Steve's alpha nature, he had to admit he enjoyed the new tastes he was being introduced to, along with a quasi lesson in how to eat it. The way Steve had ordered, it was like having a sharing platter and they dipped into each dish between them on the table, using napkins as extra plates for themselves as needed. 

They were almost finished eating when Freddie and Chin arrived and it gave Danny a chance to meet the other quarterback properly. 

"Nice to meet you, Danny," Chin said as he shook the smaller boy's hand. "Do me a favor and spend a lot of time with Steve. If it distracts him away from the field, I've got a better chance at keeping my place on the team."

"Steve told me you broke your ankle. You take a bad tackle?" Danny asked as he saw that the guy still favored his left leg even though it wasn't even wrapped up anymore. 

"It was stupid," Chin waved off. 

"Chin played hero," Freddie said as he sat on the edge of the table rather than taking a seat. "There was a fight. Chin won."

"A fight? I thought Hawaiians were too laid back to get into brawls," Danny said.

"There was a guy on the team. He got kicked off when coach found out there was weed in his locker," Steve started to explain. "No one knows who told coach, but we all supported it. If it got out that players were taking any kind of drug, even just one of us, we could all lose our shot at the championship and college scholarships. It would ruin our reputations. But the guy, Frankie Delano? He didn't take it so well. He accused Chin."

"Because you're team captain?" Danny asked. 

Chin nodded. "And after everything, Delano got suspended before transferring schools and I got to spend the summer with my girl taking care of me. She wants to be a doctor so she got plenty of practice."

Freddie bumped Chin's shoulder and the other boy smirked though for an alpha he didn't seem the braggart type and almost had a shyness to him when it came to his girlfriend. Danny looked around to see Malia was with Catherine, Kelly and a slightly younger girl who was native. There was also a rather large kid who Danny had learned before was Kamekona and that he dressed up as the school mascot. 

"So McGarrett, I've never seen you so unstable on the ice before," Freddie told him, changing the subject. "You forget how to skate all of a sudden?"

Danny dropped his fork and sat back. "You put all that on?" he sent an accusatory look at Steve who had the decency to blush a little but he was pretty smug about the whole thing. 

"It gave me an excuse to hold onto you," he shrugged as he wiped his hands on a napkin.

"Nice move. Smooth dog strikes again!" Freddie patted Steve on his shoulders in congratulations. "I should have thought of that when I first starting dating Kelly."

"It only worked 'cause Danny's new in town and doesn't know we hang out here a decent amount," Steve told him and before Danny could get angry and feel embarrassed that the move worked on him, Steve reached a hand over to his. "It was just a bit of fun. I wanted us to have a chance to stick together out there."

It was sweet. But considering that Danny had genuinely fallen for the ruse, he couldn't help but feel awkward even if Steve hadn't meant anything sinister by his actions. 

Freddie could see that Danny was a little uncomfortable. "Listen man, you're still a better skater than Steve is anyway. He can stay on his feet and go fast but he can't do the skating backwards thing or put any kind of finesse into what he does out there."

"Hey!" Steve said. "I'm good! And I can skate backwards!"

"Only when you just push off from the wall. You can't do it properly. Give it up, McGarrett. Danny is better at it than you."

"Well, he comes from a cold state. He's had more practice," Steve humphed, joke landing on him.

"Sore loser," Freddie sing-songed and watching the two friends argue lightened Danny's mood in return as they made sure that he wasn't the butt of a joke.

"Uh-huh," Steve bit his lip rather than retorting. "Danny, how about you and I leave these idiots to it and go do our own thing?"

"Uhm, sure, I guess," Danny agreed, pretty much willing to follow Steve's lead since he was the outsider in the group. 

Steve tidied their trash onto the tray and took it away before returning and taking Danny's hand, garnering a pointed look from Freddie that Steve dismissed with a middle finger. 

Since neither boy was interested in doing any actual shopping they kept the pace slow and concentrated more on each other than anything around them. Steve talked a little about the people from the group, introducing Danny to them in a different way; telling stories about a few of them and describing their personalities to him. Learning more about the people he was around helped Danny acclimatize and Steve also took the time to simply talk about the Hawaiian people who randomly walked by and the kind of things Danny should expect from them, whether in general or the way genders and sub-genders worked so far away from the mainland.

It was the first time someone had taken that time with him and Danny began to understand the differences and the culture changes to expect while he lived here. It was like a dummies guide that was actually useful and he was grateful to Steve for taking the time, knowing what Danny needed to make life easier. 

"Shit," Steve suddenly proclaimed and stopped walking. 

"What is it?" Danny asked, worried. 

Steve looked around then dragged Danny over to where the small side corridor led to the bathrooms. He pulled Danny all the way down to a smaller alcove, talking on the way. "Remember we told you about Frankie Delano? I just spotted him and Marco." He found what seemed to be a janitor's closet and pushed Danny inside, closing the door behind them.

"Are they following?" Danny asked, not sure if he should be worried about what might happen if this other kid came after Steve. If a fight with Chin happened, then maybe anything was possible. Anger can build and if the guy was pissed at being chucked from the team, imagine how me might be at the suspension and need to change schools.

"I don't think so, but it's better to be safe than sorry, right?" Steve said, pressing close in the dark. 

Danny fumbled along the wall until he found a light switch and turned it on. The storage space wasn't big but there was enough room for them to move around. Funny then that Steve was keeping close, body tightly against Danny, keeping the omega against the wall and further from the door as if protecting him. 

"Not that I would dare to think that bringing me in here was a ruse. But how long are we going to stay. And do you have any concept of personal space?" he asked, eyes wide and innocent but with a jovial glint to them.

"Well, it's hard to say," Steve started, biting his inside lip and exaggerating his thought process. "Delano is a complete moron, it might take him a while to leave the area. I think we might need to hide out for a while."

"Ah," Danny nodded and played along. "I'd say you're a hero for protecting me in all this, but it seems you abandoned your friends somewhere out there."

"The food court is miles away," Steve waved off. "We've walked clear to the other side of the mall," he said and Danny hadn't even noticed how far they'd gone while they'd been deep in conversation. "And so long as we make the 4.15 bus then I'll have you home in time."

"4.15. Okay. What time is it now?"

"About 2.45."

"So we've got just over an hour before we need to head to the bus stop," Danny said. More a statement than a question. 

"However will we pass the time?" Steve grinned then ducked his head lower and brushed his lips to Danny's. It was light at first, testing, making sure Danny was comfortable. When he got no resistance, Steve braced a thigh between Danny's legs and one arm against the wall as the kissing deepened. His spare hand skirted down to Danny's hip and held tight. 

They had only been getting to know each other for a few days but Danny had already learned that Steve really enjoyed kissing. It was like an experiment to the alpha; something he wanted to keep trying until he got perfect. Whether that was the length of the kisses, the breathing, the amount of tongue, how open they should be, how fast or slow. Their noses dunted, occasionally their teeth clashed and it made them wince and laugh, but neither boy wanted to stop. 

Steve's hand had wandered back up to cup behind Danny's head and as they paused to breathe again Steve spoke in a kiss gravelly voice. "Can I-?"

"What?"

"Your neck," Steve said, eyes darting between Danny's and lower as he licked his lips. 

"You-" Danny lifted a hand to feel against his skin as if something was wrong before he realized. "You want to bite me?"

"I want to leave a mark."

"I don't want my parents to see. It's only been two days, Steve."

"I can do it lower. Your clothes can hide it. I want to know it's there. If I know then that's enough right now."

"It's still fast."

"Please? I'll be careful. But if you really don't want to-"

"No, it's fine. I just-" Danny stumbled over his words. The thought of Steve leaving his mark on him was hot and he really did kind of want it. It was just that his head told him it was too soon. But if there was one thing he knew, it was that his head was usually overruled by his heart and this time was no exception. 

He grabbed the neckline of his t-shirt and pulled it aside and down, exposing his collarbone and the top of his chest. 

Steve kissed his lips chastely then smiled as he trailed his lips down over Danny's jawline leaving a few pecked kisses against his neck, feeling the thrum of Danny's blood rushing through his veins in a mixture of excitement and trepidation and then he began to suck and bite against his chest just above his heart. 

Danny's other hand gripped into Steve's hair as the boy bit and licked until there was a round and mottled red mark against Danny's pale skin. Steve hummed against him before lifting his head, reaching to run a finger over the mark in satisfaction. 

"Wow," Steve said breathily. "I marked an omega. That's so fucking hot."

Danny let go of his t-shirt and it slowly covered up the bite mark as it moved back into its natural shape. Steve practically whined to see it covered but Danny held the alpha's face and pulled his attention. They didn't say anything else, but after long moments of staring stupidly at each other, they began making out again, this time with what felt like barely contained passion. 

The last thing they needed was to get wound up because they were supposed to be going slower and there was no way Danny was going to have sex in a cleaning closet among mop buckets and toilet rolls. 

"Hey, hey, hey," Danny said, slowing them, breaking away from the kissing. "The mark's not going anywhere," he reminded Steve which almost just set the boy off again. "Keep it at bay, alpha. We gotta think about heading to the bus stop."

"Damnit," Steve said, leaning close. "Have I told you how much I've thought about what it was like having sex with you?" He brushed a stray hair back from Danny's forehead. "Because it was amazing and my right hand really pales in comparison but that's all I had last night. They never told us in sex ed that once we'd done it the first time it would be constantly on the brain."

"Then you had shitty sex ed, 'cause in Jersey we were warned that alphas were horny bastards. I'm paraphrasing, the teacher said it differently but pretty sure that was the message," Danny giggled.

"Yeah, but this isn't the same." Steve looked Danny in the eye, earnest. "I don't know, this feels different. Like… more. I can't explain it."

"Yeah," Danny agreed, swallowing. There was something. 

There was a growing feeling that he wanted to be around Steve all the time. That being alone with him was the most comfortable he'd felt in years. That trusting him was becoming second nature. That allowing him to be an alpha with him, to control, to impress, were a real turn on.

Steve stepped back, putting a hand to his groin and flattening it down as he tried to straighten himself up. Danny took the cue and made sure his t-shirt was hiding the mark even though it easily was, and he wiped between his legs to make sure the wetness he was sure was there hadn't somehow leaked through the layers of clothing. 

Steve checked they were in the clear as they turned various corners until they made it to the bus stop and waited patiently. The ride back seemed to have a downturn in atmosphere, like there was a sadness that they were separating for the rest of the day. 

Steve, ever the gentleman, walked Danny to his gate. He reached for the omega's wrist to turn him. "Hey, we could go to the beach tomorrow. You could start learning to surf or, you know, just hang out on the sand looking hot-"

"I can't," Danny held a hand up to stop him. "I have family stuff. And I don't think my parents would let me anyway. Chores and things."

"Right. Sucks," Steve said, head down, watching the way his hand fitted around Danny's wrist so perfectly. "So I guess this is it until Monday?"

"Yeah. I'll see you at school, Steve," Danny told him. 

The alpha leaned in for a goodbye kiss. He kept it chaste considering where they were before reluctantly leaving to head home, turning his head to watch as Danny gave him a small wave and then went to enter his house. 

He closed the door behind himself and leaned back on it, taking a breath. 

"Did you have a good day with your boyfriend?" Bridget sing-singed and got in his face annoyingly. 

He shoved her aside. "Shut up, Bridge." 

He walked towards the kitchen, his sister trailing behind. "I heard he's the most popular boy in school and like the biggest dreamboat. Why would he want to be around you?"

"Why did mom and dad not give you up for adoption the moment you were born? These are all questions we'll never know the answers to."

"You're annoying," Bridget shot back at him and stuck her tongue out before running away to do her own thing again. 

He got a can of soda from the fridge and then tried not to act weird when his mother breezed in. "Hi, honey. Have a good day?" she asked. 

"It was fine," he answered noncommittally, a hand scratching idly at his t-shirt, right on top of the mark. 

"You hanging out with your new friends tomorrow?"

"No, I, uh, I've got lots of homework so I figured I'd stay around the house."

"Are you sure? Maybe you should get out a bit more. This past month you've been cooped up here all the time trying to get on top of this new school stuff. You deserve a weekend to chill out and get to know the new place and the new people around you."

"It's okay, mom. I just want to make sure the homework is done and maybe catch up with people back home a little. I might call Grace and Billy, see how much they miss me."

"Okay, honey. Dinner will be ready in an hour, so no snacking," she told him as he began to head to the stairs. 

He gave something that approximated acknowledgement and plodded his way up the stairs to his room. 

He wasn't sure why he'd deflected both Steve and his mom over what he wanted to do the next day. He did know that after having sex with Steve on Thursday after school, dating him on Friday night and today's time together culminating in an intense closet make out session… he needed some breathing space. He needed to wrap his head around things. And he needed to work out what he was feeling and how much of that was because he was a guy, or because he was an omega, or because he was in such a different place and part of him desperately wanted to fit in while the other part just wanted to go home… 

It was all just a lot. He didn't want to worry about anything until Monday. 

But even he knew he'd spend the majority of Sunday thinking and contemplating and debating and ultimately worrying. It was just his nature. But the plan to talk to his buddies back in Jersey was a good one. Grace would be especially good at working all of this out with him.


	3. Chapter 3

Grace was right. He was being stupid. He was getting caught up in the whole sex thing (she was weirdly not surprised that he'd done it) and letting that affect his judgement. Steve wasn't so special. He was a nice guy and Danny enjoyed spending time with him and dating was fun but all that stuff about 'more'. It was insane. 

He told himself these things over and over all the way to school on Monday morning and ignored the butterflies in his stomach that were excited to be around the alpha again.

His mood soured as he saw who was leaning against his locker, bag over her shoulder, books tucked between her crossed arms. When she spotted him, he knew there was no way to avoid her. 

He walked over. "You're uh, that's my locker," he pointed behind her. 

"I wanted to talk," she said. "We've not been properly introduced. I'm Catherine."

"I know," he said back. "What did you want to talk about?"

She chewed her lip briefly. "I can tell by the way you look at me that you're waiting for the other shoe to drop. I don't want things to be awkward or for you to hear gossip about when Steve and I 'dated' for a while. He and I were friends first and we're still friends. Most of all I want him to be happy. And when he's around you he's happier than I've seen him in a while. It's a good look on him."

"Are you trying to say you give us your blessing or something? Not that we need it," he put in. "And we're not serious or anything. It's been one date."

"You don't get it, do you," she said, lightly shaking her head. She turned and braced a shoulder against the locker next to his, allowing him to open his own and put away what he didn't need.

"Get what?"

"You're the first person he's dated."

"But I thought you and he- you just said-"

"Steve and I, we didn't really date. It kind of got called that by other people but we just thought we were hanging out. _**I**_ really just thought we were hanging out. I don't think it counts, personally. I don't think he does either."

"But he's Steve McGarrett. He's popular and athletic and smart and, not for nothing, he's hot. And you're telling me he's not dated."

"More than that. Steve's one of those guys. The kind who proclaimed he didn't understand why alphas fell hard for omegas. Always said he'd never understood the appeal and that you'd never see him dating one. Then you came along." She shrugged and laughed a little. "He's got it bad."

"I don't understand."

"He loves you."

"Whoa _whoa **whoa**_ hold on. _**Loves?!**_ Hold on a second-"

"You don't know this, but Steve just played football and studied and maybe once a week he hung out with people. He's been focusing on getting into the Navy when he's older. The fact he's developed any kind of social life is a miracle. He's never cared about dating. Steve wouldn't change that attitude for just anyone. It must be love." She pushed away from the locker and walked backwards. "He's fallen hard. Don't break his heart."

"I didn't plan on it," he said, in shock at what he was hearing.

"That's what I wanted to hear," she said before turning and walking further away. 

"Don't plan on what? What was all that about?" Steve asked. It made Danny jump as the alpha came up behind him as if out of nowhere.

"What? Oh, nothing. She was just saying hi. Wanted me to know she was fine with us doing whatever. Dating."

"Yeah? That's good. I worried it might be a bit awkward or something. As much as she and I didn't work out, it's good we're all on the same page with this," he said. 

Danny was listening but all that was going around his brain was the word 'love' and Steve talking about everyone thinking the same thing, which seemed to somehow confirm it all. But he quashed the voices in his head. He reiterated the conversation he'd had with Grace instead. It had been a couple of days and the sex was just making them think things were bigger than they were. 

"You still with me?" Steve's voice permeated Danny's thoughts again. 

He blinked. "Oh, sorry. I just, I think I might have left a book I need at home. It doesn't matter, I'm sure the library has a copy. What were you saying?"

"I was just wondering what classes you had this morning."

"Right. Uh, I've got Spanish first then-" he cut himself off, made a face and then dug back into his locker. He brought out a sheet of paper and held it out for Steve. 

"What's this for?" Steve asked as he took it and read what was on it. "Your schedule. Don't you need this?"

"I've got it memorized now. And it's just going to be easier to keep your alpha at bay if you don't have to keep asking where I'm going."

"I'm not trying to be-"

"I know," he cut the other boy off before he could apologize. It was unnecessary. "It's just in case. I'll see you in third period for English Lit, alright?"

"Sure," Steve answered as he reached out and lightly pinched against Danny's shirt, right where the mark was under his clothes. "I'll be thinking about you the whole time until then," he pressed a quick peck to Danny's lips then took off as the bell rang. 

Danny turned to watch. "Try paying attention to the teachers, huh?"

Steve just winked at him and disappeared into the crowd.

*

Steve was leaning against the wall outside of the cafeteria when Danny appeared. "Finally," he said. "How'd it take you this long to go to your locker then get here?"

"I stopped at the bathroom. What are you timing me or something?"

"I just got worried you'd bolted like you did on Friday. Any longer and I was going to go out looking for you. Come on," his arm was across Danny's shoulders again, leaning into him as they took their place in line. Once closer, Steve grabbed two trays and began sliding them down, grabbing food for both of them. He briefly asked Danny what he wanted, but then grabbed a couple other things without checking with Danny since he was too busy recounting a story about what had happened in his chemistry class earlier. 

They sat at what was Steve's usual lunch table, surrounded by his friends from the football team but a couple of the other guys were actually from other sports teams or just generally popular. He was properly introduced to Meka and his girlfriend Amy. Meka played on the baseball team and had also heard about how Danny was told he couldn't play in Hawaii. He offered to spend some time with Danny on the baseball diamond - just so long as their coach wasn't around at the time or they'd get in trouble for it.

Catherine shot them a few glances from where she was further down the table but there was no malice in it, just something knowing. She also seemed to be paying a lot of attention to one off the other players. Billy was his name. Danny remembered that because it was the name of one of his best friends back in Jersey. A lot of the other kids he was still struggling to remember who was who. When he looked around the table more, he realized that the majority of them were all paired up romantically and thinking back on Catherine's words it made him wonder if Steve had somehow been the odd one out before.

As they finished eating, Steve leaned back a little, fingers running up and down Danny's spine. "So we've got practice after school today."

"This you making sure I know your schedule like you know mine?"

"I can get you a copy, don't worry," Steve smiled. "I'm just saying because it means I can't walk you home from school."

"I didn't know you were thinking about doing that."

Steve shrugged. "I think it's a good idea. I mean we live close by so it makes sense."

"Okay," Danny said. He was agreeing on principal. Alpha behavior or not, there was nothing wrong with the idea. 

"But really I was just thinking maybe you could come watch."

"Your practice? Why would I do that? Games are one thing, but practice isn't a spectator sport."

"You can sit in the bleachers and do homework or read while you wait for me. And maybe you might watch a little. And some of the others hang out there while waiting on the guys. It's kind of normal."

"I do need to finish reading _Of Mice and Men_ for English Lit," he wavered. "Fine, I'll stay. But if it starts to rain or something, then I'm leaving to study at home."

"Deal," Steve pecked a kiss to his lips, his hand still traveling Danny's spine as the conversation turned back to something Freddie said.

*

Danny sat a few rows up on the bleachers and had pressed himself into the side so he had something to lean against. He'd been reading his book but he kept getting distracted by the coach or the boys on the field yelling and making calls. He gave up and trapped his hands between his thighs as he watched. The wind had picked up a little and he'd felt a chill in the air. He had been tempted to just call it a day but Steve had looked towards him a lot - he'd already been yelled at by the coach twice to pay attention to what was going on. He figured if he left it would really draw attention and that was something he didn't want.

As practice finished, the alphas all made their way to the locker room. The Coach took a sidestep and came towards the bleachers. He said a quick hello to some other kids who had watched part or all of the practice and then climbed closer to Danny and shuffled along so he could sit next to him. 

"I'm Coach White," he said. "I hear you transferred from New Jersey. That's quite a move to make."

"Yeah," Danny rubbed his hands together again. "Hawaii's very different."

"That it is. I spent some time on the east coast myself when I was in the Navy," he said. His eyes were friendly but Danny knew he had a motive for coming to speak to him. "Steve has taken a shine to you."

"We uh, we went out on a date."

White nodded. "Listen, I'm not here to rain on your parade. You're kids, you should go out and have fun together. And I'm glad that Steve is making a new friend. He's been very serious this last year or so as he thinks more about his future. You know he's interested in going into the military?"

"Yeah, I heard he wants to."

"Steve's not used to balancing his studies with fun. I think there's going to be a period where he's not quite got it right and I saw that today. He was distracted a lot."

"You think it's because of me?" Danny asked, ready to defend himself but he didn't really have a leg to stand on. 

"It's not your fault," White said. "But it's clearly because your relationship is in that new stage where all Steve wants to do is be with you. And vice versa, I assume," he smiled. "I didn't come over here to tell you not to be here. I just thought maybe you could help me out a little bit. Talk to him. Remind him that when he's on the field he should be thinking about the game and not who is in the stands watching. That would apply if it was the love of his life or a talent scout who could help him secure a damn good scholarship to college."

"I'll give it a shot. It makes sense," Danny agreed. 

"Thanks, son," White said as he stood to leave. "And welcome to Hawaii."

Danny gave him a small smile in response and then continued to wait until Steve reappeared. Danny climbed down the steps and hung by the back of the scaffold structure as Steve approached, back in his regular clothes and carrying a jacket while his bag was on his back.

"Miss me?" Steve asked as he wrapped a hand around the back of Danny's neck and leaned in for a quick kiss. 

"It was fifteen minutes. I never had the chance," Danny smiled back at him. Steve reached his hands out, jacket wrapped across one forearm offering it to Danny. "What are you doing?"

"I saw you look like you were a bit cold sitting there. Bleachers are always cold, I dunno, something to do with the metal frame. I thought you might need it."

"Thanks," Danny answered, grateful for the offer and not going to turn something down that was appreciated at the moment. Steve helped him get it round his shoulders. The jacket fit on top, but it was wide and had long arms so it still seemed to drown him. It was as Steve had unfurled the jacket that Danny noticed it was his lettered one - the K for Kukui on the left of the chest, white in contrast to the red of the jacket, and Steve's last name emblazoned on the back between the shoulder blades. Danny had seen the alpha teen wear it a few times walking the corridors of the school and though it still had a newness to it, it smelled deeply of him.

They began their walk home, taking it at a leisurely pace. Danny brought up a little of what Coach White had said to him though he made it sound like his own thoughts, without the adult alpha's prodding. Steve admitted he had been distracted, part of him preening at being watched by Danny and knowing he had that support even if it was just at practice. They talked about the session. Danny may have been more of a baseball player, but he was a football fan and knew enough that he could comment on what he'd seen.

As they arrived at his house, he moved to take the jacket off, but Steve stopped him. "Why don't you just keep it. For now, anyway. Maybe wear it to the game on Thursday night? Gotta wear the school colors when you're supporting us."

Danny stopped. "And the fact that I'll be wearing your jacket with your name in big letters on the back?"

"That's just a bonus," Steve winked and pulled him close, one arm tight around his waist while the other combed through his hair. Their kisses were becoming so familiar. They were beginning to understand each other and learn what was comfortable, though there still remained some awkwardness between tongues and lips and noses when they became overzealous in their affection. But they were kids who relied on movies and sex ed - neither of which prepared you for what things felt like in the moment. 

Catching their breath, they leaned heavily against the gate out front of Danny's house. Steve glanced around and then moved a hand to slightly push aside the jacket Danny was still wearing and tug at the top of the boy's shirt so that he could see the hidden bite mark.

"You could wear something that shows it. Just a little."

"Are you kidding me?" Danny said in hushed tone. "If our parents find out they'll tell us it's too soon or we're too young. You want that to happen?"

"No, of course not, I just… I like having it there and having other people see it would make me like it even more."

"You'll just have to settle for me wearing your jacket on Thursday night," Danny told him.

"For now," Steve agreed. "But if we go to the beach-"

"I don't do beaches," Danny cut him off. "I don't do water, I don't do sand."

"You live in Hawaii now. I hate to break it to you, but you're surrounded by those things."

"I know. But I'm doing a really good job of ignoring that and I'd like to keep it that way."

"So a trip to the beach this Saturday is out."

"Very out."

"I'll just have to think of something else then," Steve replied, thumb idly tracing the line of his mark on Danny's chest. He kissed him again, soft and slow. "I'll meet you here tomorrow morning."

*

The game had been close but Kukui pulled it out the bag right at the end to seal their victory, which meant everyone wearing red and white on the field or in the stands was in a good mood. Danny had been there in the bleachers to lend his support and he'd been pulled into the group of friends without any hesitation. During quieter moments they'd engaged him in conversation and he found that he really got on well with Meka and Amy. Maybe it was the baseball angle, but Danny felt more comfortable in his presence than some of the others. 

He'd worn the jacket as promised and it had been useful since the evening had turned colder again and rain was in the air. He'd faced some minor ribbing and some of the others joshed with him about Steve exerting his alpha status but he found that he didn't get angry about it, or embarrassed. He blushed a little but he liked that he was wearing something of Steve's, liked that Steve's name was on it, liked that Steve wanted him to wear it. 

The area had emptied and those remaining were waiting on the team to finish up in the locker room. 

They all came out at once amid more whoops and hollers over the win and Steve swept Danny into a hug and kissed him and got mushy on him by saying he felt like he played better because Danny was there watching. 

It was a school night so no one could stay out long and Steve had been allowed to take the car so he drove Danny home. 

"So I was thinking about Saturday, considering how much you hate the beach I thought we could take that hike we talked about before. Thing is, it's quite far and when my dad took me up there we used to camp overnight. I wasn't sure how our parents would feel about us doing that."

"Well, I can make things a bit easier on you," Danny turned to him. "I don't do camping. I'm not an outdoorsy person. The closest I come to nature is rolling the car window down."

Steve laughed. "You're really making things difficult for me to plan anything. And don't hate me but I kind of already got things sorted with the guys. We thought we'd make it a group trip. Have a whole bunch of us going up and camping overnight. That way the parentals will all let us go."

"Hey, listen, you can go camping with whoever you want. I'm not going to stop you. Maybe this weekend we just don't spend as much time together," Danny shrugged, though he was saddened to not get to spend the day with his new boyfriend. 

"We can fix this," Steve said as he pulled up outside Danny's house. "You'd come hiking if you didn't have to camp?"

"Sure," Danny answered. "I guess the walking part isn't so bad."

"There's a small motel at the bottom of the trail. It's basic but it would do and I've got enough of my allowance saved that we could get a room there. None of the guys will rat on us that we went off on our own."

Steve had said it innocently but Danny's mind spun as he considered that what Steve was saying was that they could get a room at a hotel together and he couldn't help but think of expectations that came with that. The situation called for it even if nothing happened. And if people knew they'd done such a thing it would lead to all sorts of talk. 

Danny wanted to spend time with Steve, and with the connotations of a hotel room aside, he imagined just sacking out privately with the alpha with takeout and watching mind numbing TV and it sounded pretty damned good. Getting away from a busy house with his parents and siblings in for one night sounded pretty heavenly. 

"Yeah, alright. Just got to convince the folks that it's safe and normal."

"If need be, tell them to call my dad. He'll be the designated adult who'll drop us off and come back to pick us up the next day anyway."

"Okay," Danny agreed. He actually was pretty sure his parents would be fine with it. As much as they obviously worried about Danny getting into trouble or that alphas would do something stupid around him, they were very free and easy with rules and they trusted Danny to know his own limits. 

Plans firmly in place, the boys kissed goodnight with Steve once more checking on his mark in proprietary fashion. They'd only been dating a week but it was already difficult to part at the end of the day. As nervous as it still made him, Danny was looking forward to knowing that come Saturday night, they wouldn't have to, and could stick together right through to the sun coming up the next day.


	4. Chapter 4

It was surprisingly easy, even for Eddie and Clara Williams. Danny had talked with them about going out overnight with friends and they were fine with it so long as Danny knew what he was getting into and was prepared. They trusted Danny when he told them about how John McGarrett had what they needed and had been there before and knew it to be safe. 

Friday had been spent planning. Steve had called the motel to reserve the room and after that was done, a weight seemed to fall on both boys though it wasn't ominous just… heavy. 

As Saturday morning rolled around, Danny woke with butterflies inside and fobbed off both his siblings when he got tetchy with them over who got the shower first. By the time he was dressed and ready, he came flying down the stairs to find Steve and his father already waiting in the living room talking with his parents. 

"Hi," he said, interrupting how they were all just standing around.

"Danny," John greeted him and reached his hand out to shake. "Good to finally meet you. Steve's been talking about you at the dinner table every night, his mother and I feel like we already know you."

"What's he been saying?" Danny asked, slightly worried. 

"It's all good, don't worry. I was just saying to your parents how glad I am that you've been able to start settling in here. Steve's enjoyed showing you around, today's no exception."

"I'm looking forward to it," Danny said as Steve came to stand next to him. 

"Dad, please don't embarrass me," Steve said and the adults all laughed.

"You mean Danny doesn't know you were pining after him before you finally got the guts to ask him out?" John said and for the first time, Danny saw Steve flush and curl in on himself. John clapped Steve's arm. "I'm only teasing, son."

Clara rubbed a hand down Danny's arm. "You got everything you need, honey?"

"Yeah, Steve already gave me a list of things to bring and they're all packed," he gestured to the backpack he'd dropped by the front door. 

"Have a good trip. Enjoy your night of freedom away from Matty and Bridget."

"Don't let them go in my room," Danny all but pleaded and his mom assured him with a head nod and an emphatic promise that she would monitor them closely. He knew his brother, though. He knew Matty would try and snoop. Which was why Danny had put provisions in place. He'd know if things had been moved and he'd booby trapped the closet… just in case. 

They waved goodbye at the door then Danny climbed into a shiny blue Chevy truck beside Steve. The drive began in amicable silence then turned to basic small talk with John asking Danny about school, his favorite subjects, things he missed from home and things he was maybe going to try now he was in Hawaii. Danny had said he wasn't going to be surfing and, like father like son, John and Steve both ganged up on him trying to convince him that he should try it at least once. 

They passed a small motel and Steve gave Danny a brief look with a raised eyebrow and then about 500 feet later, John McGarrett pulled into the side of the road and they could see the trail head not too far ahead. A few people were already there waiting. 

John turned off the ignition then looked to Steve. "You all set?"

"Yeah, dad, we're good to go."

"You remember what I said?"

Steve let his head fall back to the seat and groaned. "Which time?"

John looked past Steve to eye Danny seriously. "This applies to you too, Danny," he said before turning his gaze back to his son. "Keep the alpha at bay and if either of you begin to feel like something has gone too far, back off from one another."

"Daaad," Steve moaned.

"Son, I know you think I'm some old fart but I remember what it was like for me at your age and especially what it's like when you're really beginning to take notice of your primal urges. Everyone knows you gave your jacket to Danny and god knows what else you've indulged the alpha and omega sides of you with but Eddie and Clara and your mom and I are all trusting you boys to do what's right and be careful."

"It's not like we're alone up here. There's a whole bunch of people all hanging out. Even if we wanted something, it's not like we can," Steve told him and John backed off. Little did he know how alone the two boys would be later on. 

"Okay. And no alcohol. If any of your buddies brought some you say no."

"Got it, dad."

They climbed out, grabbed their gear and after another serious warning look from John, the boys made their way to their friends while he drove off. Once again, Danny was acutely aware that it was couples who were all on this trip together. No doubt everyone wanted to spend time together and maybe get alone time in the tents. There was no way that they weren't going to switch up who was sleeping with whom that night despite whatever the parents had been told. 

Meka and Amy. Catherine and Billy. Freddie and Kelly. Chin and Malia. 

Danny felt a little like the odd one out as he was the only male omega in a group of alphas and betas, until he reminded himself that Malia was also an omega so at least there was that. 

They all began the hike together, laughing and having fun. They made their own little base camp with the alphas deciding they knew what they were doing as they built the tents for the evening. That was, of course, until Catherine and Danny got annoyed and helped out since things hadn't been going to plan. 

They all sat around in a circle and had sandwiches for lunch that they'd brought with them and then they made plans for the rest of the day. Unsurprisingly, as much as this was a group outing, they all favored being in their respective couples. 

Chin wasn't wanting to go too far with his bad ankle so he and Malia were going to an outlook that had a great view so that they could sit together for a while. Catherine and Billy had some kind of competition going for who got to the end of the trail first, so they disappeared quite quickly ahead of everyone else. 

Freddie and Kelly stuck with Steve and Danny for a while, until they decided they wanted to be alone. Neither teen was hiding their intent and they slunk off into the treeline and off the beaten path.

"Surely that won't be comfortable," Danny said as he glanced back while he and Steve continued walking. 

"If I know Freddie, he'll have stuffed a blanket in his backpack. It's not perfect, but it'll help them out. Come on," he reached back for Danny to help him over a fallen tree branch and once he had hold of Danny's hand, he wasn't letting go. 

They made their way up together until the trees thinned out and the area became like a large field.

"This is what I was talking about," Steve said, smile on his face. "This is where my dad and I used to come during summer when I was younger. The view has never changed and I really hope it never does."

"It's… very pretty," Danny said, unable to lie. He may not particularly like Hawaii, he may miss the concrete jungle of New Jersey, but this green, lush landscape was an incredible sight. 

"Yeah, it is," Steve said, gazing out over the land and down to the ocean for a few more beats then turning his attention to Danny and giving him the same awed look. "The petroglyphs are this way," Steve pointed and then led Danny along the summit. He took off at a run, forcing Danny to follow suit until they came to a stop by a large stone partially engulfed in foliage. 

"Graffiti on rocks? I guess this is it?"

"Yeah, this is it. And it's not graffiti on rocks. The ancient Hawaiians called this 'K'l'l pohaku'. It means 'images in the stone'."

"Ah," Danny nodded, though that just sounded like a fancy name for ancient graffiti on rocks to him. Impressive that it stood the test of time, but not something he could really be hugely interested in, but Steve kept talking. 

"This one right here, this is Honu."

"That's a turtle," Danny said. 

"Yeah it's a turtle," Steve laughed. 

"What about this thing over here?" Danny waved his hands to the right at a bunch of different human shapes. 

"Those are symbols for people. The way the ancient Hawaiians saw the sub-genders. It still affects the island and its laws today." he began pointing to individual figures. "Those are the alphas on the hunt and the betas working at the homestead."

"And those ones?" Danny asked at the smaller figures encircled by the others in a strange pattern. 

"Those are the omegas. The shape around them is one of honor. But it's also one of protection. And possession. It was about territory, about protecting the family units."

"So when you said this was ancient, you really meant it."

"Yeah," Steve seemed just a little uncomfortable. "Back to a time when alphas would break away from families and try to steal omegas. Fight other alphas for them, for dominance. But we can't just rag on Hawaii. It's the way humans used to be in general."

"I know," Danny said. "Just seeing it on this, standing in front of something made in a time when that happened. It's kinda weird."

"It's a reflection of the differences between then and now. How we control ourselves, how we learned to be better."

"Maybe that's how it looks from your position as an alpha. But from mine? There's still a long way to go to get equality. Even as a young kid I understood that there were people- alphas- out there who could think of me as property. As someone around to do what **they** wanted."

"I'm not like that," Steve said, worried. 

Danny reached out for him, running the back of his hand down the alpha's chest. "I know," he reassured him. In return, Steve clasped his hand over Danny's and held it close to his heart before he leaned in to kiss him. 

"Maybe we should get back," the alpha said as he pulled away. "We should probably get something to eat and then if you want to stay and hang out with everyone we can do that. Or we can make our way down to the motel."

"I like the idea of you and I watching crappy TV," Danny said. "Like I told you before. I'm not a big fan of the great outdoors."

"Motel it is," Steve replied. He slung an arm around Danny's waist and the two boys began the journey back down.

*

They ran into Catherine and Billy midway down. Freddie and Kelly joined them not too long later. The three couples made it to the camp well before Chin and Malia. It was pretty much a picnic setting for their dinner as none of the parents seemed to trust the kids with a fire and cooking beyond some simple reheats and some marshmallows. 

Danny liked the idea of friends sitting around a campfire, but the city boy inside him was not fond of the insects that would come out at night, or the sounds of the darkened woods and he was keen to bid everyone a pleasant evening. 

As he and Steve began walking back to the road, Freddie yelled out, "Be careful! Don't do anything I wouldn't do!"

Steve retorted that there wasn't much Freddie wouldn't do and the laughter carried over the evening breeze. It was still light enough to see the road without a flashlight, but the sun was sinking fast so it made sense for the boys to hurry. Once at the road, things were easier and they made it to the motel in good time. 

Danny waited outside while Steve checked them in and paid for the room. He held the key like a prize as he came back out to where Danny had been waiting with their packs. 

They wandered down the one story, L-shaped building until they came to the room that was to be theirs for the night. It was sparse, as expected. A double bed, a single chair and a desk with an old TV on it and a lamp. The back of the room had a built in closet opposite the door into a small bathroom that housed a shower unit, small sink and toilet with not much room to move around in. Each side of the bed had a small wooden table. No doubt one of the drawers had a bible in it. 

The whole place was rustic and smelled woody but it was clean, the door locked and it meant Danny didn't have to sleep on the hard ground in a sleeping bag so it was worth it to him. 

Danny went to the bathroom and on his return, Steve had seemingly unpacked his bag, airing out his clothing for the next day and laying out a few drinks and snacks he still had on him. He'd taken off his outer shirt and shoes and was sitting on the bed, remote control in hand. Danny walked around the bed before joining Steve on it, plumping up the pillow on his side so he could be comfortable. 

Steve settled on a game show. 

"Really?" Danny asked. "You like this kind of show?"

"There's nothing else on. I've been round in a circle and landed back here again."

It took the boys no more than a matter of minutes for them to start answering the questions being set on the show and complaining about the stupidity of the contestants when they didn't know the answers. Steve opened a can of coke and offered some to Danny who drank happily before handing it back to the alpha. 

"You got any chocolate or something?" Danny asked, shuffling closer to Steve and looking over him to see what was in his stash. 

"I got a peppermint pattie."

"Perfect," Danny made a grabby hand motion for Steve to place into his palm. He ripped the wrapper open. "I prefer them cold but it'll do."

Steve seemed taken by the way Danny happily hummed at the taste in his mouth. He ran a hand over Danny's thigh and kissed his shoulder. "Do you have any idea how cute you are?"

"None whatsoever," Danny smiled as he then reached right over Steve's body, stretching for the open can of coke so he could wash his chocolate peppermint down, though the taste wasn't so nice mixed together. He almost fell on top of Steve, who wrapped an arm over Danny's waist to keep him steady then was reluctant to let go when Danny tried to lift himself. 

Instead he turned them, using his own momentum until they'd rolled around and Steve was on top of Danny. "Let me clue you in," Steve said as he looked fondly down at Danny and brushed a stray hair from his head. "You're incredibly cute. I thought so right from the start. I'm really glad I finally got the balls to make a move."

"Are you making another one now?" Danny asked, a little unsure but mostly flirty though it was bravado shining through some nerves. 

"Is it working?"

"Uh-huh," Danny answered and it was enough for Steve who dipped his head down and tenderly kissed Danny. There was no rush. No parents or family. Their friends weren't nearby. It was just them alone in a room and they had all night to enjoy each others' company in whatever form that took. 

Steve moved slightly to the side, taking his weight off Danny and onto the bed. Their hands explored more than they had before while their lips stayed locked together in a lengthy teenage make out session. Steve's hand made it under Danny's t-shirt and rucked it up. He pulled back and looked at the omega with kiss swollen lips. "I have stuff."

"You brought- you mean condoms?"

"Yeah and uh, I got some lubricant stuff just in case since last time you said you were bleeding after and I didn't know if that was my fault. I went to the drug store yesterday. The clerk gave me a weird look. I think because it's supposed to be cherry flavor."

Danny giggled. "Where is it?"

"I put everything in the bedside drawer."

"Let's see."

Steve sat up and turned so he could bring out what he needed. He placed a couple of condoms beside the lamp and brought around the bottle of lube. He squeezed a small amount out and rubbed it between two fingers, sniffing at them. He gave Danny the bottle and he did the same thing only he put his finger in his mouth to taste it.

"What do you think?"

"It smells better than it tastes," Danny answered. "Try it."

"I've got a better idea. But it means you need to take your clothes off for me."

Danny raised an eyebrow then swallowed some surfacing nerves. "We said we'd take it slow."

Steve leaned in, hands holding the bottom of Danny's shirt and helping him to raise it up and over his head. "Please…" he murmured as he kissed Danny's lips and over his cheek. 

While Danny unbuttoned his pants, Steve took off his own shirt, watching all the while as Danny revealed his body to him again. Naked on the bed, Danny kept having to tamp down on his nerves - Steve had seen him before, there was nothing to be embarrassed about. 

"Open your legs," Steve asked and helped with a hand on Danny's thighs as the omega widened himself up for Steve who settled on his knees between them. The alpha reached for the lube again and trickled plenty over the fingers on his right hand. With his left, he moved Danny's dick out of the way and then ran the wet fingers up and down over Danny's pussy and clit. Danny could swear there was so much that he could feel it dripping down over his ass.

Danny watched Steve's fascinated look as he petted his fingers over Danny's groin, letting his hand touch further, even running up and down Danny's dick a few times and spreading the cherry scented lubricant everywhere. 

Steve then settled himself further, getting lower, left elbow resting on the bed to keep himself propped up. He was slow and careful as he pushed a wet finger inside Danny's pussy. Just a little bit at a time. At first Danny hadn't realized he was doing it until it pushed in deep enough for a spark of the intrusion to register. He gasped in response, closing his legs a little but Steve simply pushed them wide again, telling him it was okay. 

It was more than okay. Steve smiled up at Danny then lowered his head and in the next moment Danny felt the hot, malleable feeling of Steve's tongue against him as it stroked up and over Danny's clit, flicking against it. 

"Holy fuck," Danny said breathily, head falling back to the pillow as he shifted his legs even wider, welcoming Steve in further. 

"I have to disagree with you," Steve said in between licks. "It tastes better than it smells."

Danny couldn't help the giggle that came forth. It helped release any last tension he felt from being naked and spread for an alpha. He felt blindly down until his hands connected with Steve's head and fingers tangled in the short hair. It was strange to feel the bob of the boy's head as he licked against Danny's clit and lower, colliding with the finger that pumped in and out of Danny's body.

Then there were two fingers and Danny closed his eyes as he lost himself in the feeling of a tightening inside himself that felt so good. He rolled his hips, seeking out more, feeling like he needed something just that little bit deeper. 

"Danny, you wanna?" Steve asked as he lifted his head. 

"Yes," he answered, lifting his head to watch the other boy again. "Steve," he said with a reverence and an acceptance in his tone. Something that felt like yielding but he didn't fully understand it. 

Steve sat up, reaching over to the bedside table to grab a condom. He took his time as he pushed his pants off and knelt on the bed, checking the condom was going on right. Danny reached his own hand down between his legs to rub a finger over himself. Steve's attention seemed split between the rolling of the condom and the way in which Danny was keeping his own pleasure going. 

Steve seemed to growl as he batted Danny's hand away and lined himself up. He squeezed another generous helping of lube onto his hand and rubbed it in over his rubber-clad dick, wiping his hand up Danny's groin to remove the excess and then he was there, head of his dick pressing at Danny's entrance. 

He pushed slowly, keeping himself at bay while Danny got used to the different feeling. 

Danny encouraged him. He reached his own hand down and helped as Steve pushed further, helped hold him back at each sharp moment of pain as he needed a moment to deal with the stretch. But each time it faded back to comfort and then Danny realized that the further Steve pushed inside him, the easier it was becoming. 

He wrapped a leg around Steve's back as the boy then looked down between them and smiled. "That's it, I'm there." It was a feeling of triumph again mixed with awe. 

Steve leaned down, bracing himself on either side of Danny's head, allowing their chests to touch and Danny noticed for the first time how sweaty and hot they were as they were plastered together. Steve kissed him, hard. Lips and teeth crushed together like the alpha didn't realize the strength of gravity and the strength of his own desire. As Danny moaned, a little in protest, Steve eased the kiss to something more controlled. 

He was moving now. Slowly. In and out. Both boys marveling at how it felt in their own ways but the connection was the same.

Out of breath from long kisses, Steve pressed his forehead to Danny's and stared into his eyes. Their noses rubbed as Danny gasped - Steve had shifted the angle of his thrusts and it felt amazing. Without asking, Steve took the cue and sped up, thrusting harder and faster into Danny as the tension inside built. The heat, the smell, the heavy atmosphere - it blanketed them and brought their world down to just the bed, just each other. 

Steve's lips curled in a sneer and he growled low in his throat before he bent his head. In the next moment, Danny felt the sharp sting of Steve's teeth as he bit him. It was higher than the previous mark but still low enough that clothing would cover it. The feeling of Steve biting, sucking, it made Danny think this mark would be bigger, redder, and much more of a constant reminder of being with him. 

One of Steve's big hands grasped at Danny's thigh, lifting it back and then the angle shifted again even more perfectly. 

"Right there!" Danny all but yelled out and Steve thrust into him so hard that combined with the growing tension in his gut and the feel of teeth at his collarbone - suddenly he was coming, body contracting fast and continuous around Steve's dick, feeling like he was trying to draw Steve in deeper. 

The alpha faltered, swore through gritted teeth and then stilted as he came. He held himself deep inside Danny, his final thrust doing nothing more than shoving both boys further up the bed. 

He collapsed down onto the omega, head ducked into Danny's neck and breathing deep.

Danny trailed lazy fingers through Steve's hair as their world began to open back up though the room was silent around them except for their heavy breaths. 

Steve shifted. Then tensed. 

He lifted his head and stroked the stray hairs back from Danny's forehead. He placed a soft kiss on his lips and stayed close. "Don't move," he said. 

"Why?" Danny asked and immediately shifted his hips then halted at the feeling of something pulling at his pussy, stretching things weirdly. 

"I just, no joking this time, I think I knotted."

Danny immediately fumbled between their bodies, a hand desperately seeking out where they were joined together to try and feel for it. "You can't be!"

"I am. Wow. It's okay, it's okay," he tried to soothe Danny. "Do you feel that?" he rolled his hips carefully as he felt how he was trapped inside Danny's body. 

Danny was more shocked because he could feel where Steve's knot was inside him, feel how taut the skin around it was, how he'd opened up so fucking wide as to let Steve in and neither boy had noticed. It was the second time he'd had sex! That he could be so comfortable, so loose, so open just seemed incredible to him. Yes, Steve had joked about it the first time and Danny had believed him for a split second but that was different. He'd come to his senses and told himself it was insane to think a knot would happen until he was older and more experienced. 

But this was undeniable and he'd somehow known even before he'd been able to feel it with his fingers. "Holy crap," he said.

"What does it feel like?" Steve asked him as he got an elbow on either side of Danny and propped himself up comfortably.

"I don't know," Danny answered, irritation in his voice. "Full, tight. Like… full to bursting."

"Is it sore?" Steve asked, concern now evident. 

"I don't think so. It's like it almost is but isn't. Does that make sense?" Steve nodded in response. "How does it feel for you?"

"It doesn't really feel like anything. It's just warm and, yeah, tight. But it's good. I dunno, it's like I don't feel anything so much physically, it's more… mental?"

"What do you mean?"

"I just feel like… I mean it's primal, right?" Steve explained. "The whole thing with the knot about how it stops other alphas from being able to mate with you, that it means my cum is the only stuff inside you. The whole breeding thing?"

"Yeah."

"So I guess I just feel… alpha," Steve rolled his own eyes as he knew he wasn't explaining it well. "More in touch with my alpha side than I've ever been. It's... satisfying," he crinkled his nose up as he searched for the right words. "That this is the way it should be. That you're marked as mine. _That you're **mine**_ ," he said again. Hardened, determined eyes met Danny's own. 

There was a feeling of something wilting inside Danny's soul, like he was capitulating. He imagined himself bowing down for Steve, willingly relinquishing himself. In some ways it was like a weight lifting off his shoulders that Steve was there to help with a burden but it was scary that he could feel this way. Was this the ancient primal part of his own omega brain being true to itself? He'd never felt it before, not ever. He'd doubted omegas had that in them the way that alphas did - the way alphas seemed to revel in their nature.

Steve halted any doubts and worries that floated in Danny's mind by kissing him. There was confidence in Steve's lips. An almost righteous drive. He rolled them to the side, keeping Danny's legs around his hips and locked tight but it allowed him to run a hand through Danny's hair to the back of his neck where he squeezed tight, emphasizing his power before he stroked the hand down Danny's spine and to his naked ass where it rested comfortably.

"What do we do?" Danny asked between kisses.

"We wait for it to go down," Steve shrugged.

"How long do you think?"

"They say it's about twenty minutes, right? Don't worry," Steve told him. 

Even at sixteen, Steve knew that for Danny this was bigger than it was for him, knew that Danny needed help and distraction from both the thoughts roiling through his mind and the niggling discomfort at having an alpha dick stuck inside him. He petted and murmured and soothed, reveling in the caring side of his alpha tendencies and perfectly staving off any panic Danny might have at the situation.

As the knot finally eased, Steve pulled carefully out of Danny, making sure the omega stayed comfortable. He discarded the condom by the side of the bed and rolled close to Danny again, pulling him in, wrapping around him. "That was unbelievable," he said voice barely above a whisper. "I still feel weird," he said. "I don't want to let you go."

"Then don't," Danny told him, burrowing back into Steve's embrace as they lay together. 

Steve fumbled around enough to pull the covers up and over them, cocooning them in and they drifted to sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

Danny woke to the comfort of still being nuzzled in Steve's embrace. Nice as it was and pleasing to his omega side, it was the heat of Steve's body that had brought Danny out of his sleep. 

He shuffled away and got out of the bed, only now realizing that he was sticky and still smelled faintly of cherry. He checked the door was locked, turned off the TV and closed the curtains fully. He went to the bathroom quickly and came out to find Steve had woken and was just pulling himself to sit higher in the bed. 

"Hey," Danny said.

"Hey, booboo," Steve beamed at Danny. If he didn't know better, he'd describe it as a drunk smile. 

"Booboo?" he asked, screwing his nose up. "Just.. no."

"I feel like you need a cute nickname. Something I can call you."

"You'll think of something better than booboo." Danny fiddled with the lights so the main one was off and it left just the one on Steve's side of the bed still illuminated. It shrouded everything in a muted light that made the browns in the room stand out almost like everything was in sepia. 

Steve got up and headed into the bathroom, not without brushing close to Danny as he did so. "I'll be right back."

Danny grabbed the can of coke still sitting on the bedside table and took a long gulp of the flattening soda then climbed back into the bed. He moved the pillows around then laid down. He'd never gone to bed naked before - he always wore sleep pants. It felt weird and he wasn't sure if he should get up and put something on, but then Steve crawled back in beside him, turning the lamp out on the way and then, in the darkness, he pressed close and spooned Danny from behind. His lips trailed over Danny's shoulder. 

"How do you feel?" Steve asked. 

"Good," Danny said quickly, automatically. Then he thought about the things he'd just been thinking and blurted out. "Naked."

Steve giggled behind him, reaching for his hip under the covers and skirting his hand around to Danny's dick and below that to his pussy. "I noticed."

"I've never slept with anyone before. I don't mean the sex just… in the same bed as someone. Well.. I shared a bed with Matty on vacation but we were really small and slept on complete opposite sides and didn't touch. And now I'm here with you. And I'm naked."

"We both are. But I get your point," Steve said, resting his chin on Danny's shoulder. "I like it, though."

"Me too," Danny agreed, then he shuffled around so that he was on his back and Steve was above him. "Do you feel different?"

Steve sighed. "Maybe? It's hard to tell. Are we supposed to feel different now? You lost your virginity to me last week."

"But tonight you knotted. That means something, right?"

"Like bonding? That's what my dad says is an old wives tale. Old superstition from before science could teach us things properly. You read the biology book. It's about… arousal and stuff. It just means we're really attracted to each other. And we're sixteen, teenagers are supposed to be horny. That's what they make TV shows about."

"I guess. I mean you're right. And it just happened the one time," Danny scoffed. Steve was right. Yet again, Danny was being talked down by someone before he overreacted to the whole 'having sex' thing and made it more than it needed to be. It was natural. All of it. Knotting and all. 

Steve's hand was still between Danny's legs, absently stroking against his clit. Danny opened his legs a little and Steve seemed to take the cue and let one finger drift lower to his pussy. "Are you getting wet or is that left over lube?"

"The lube already dried."

"You know, part of us being able to get this room was that we'd have the whole night all to ourselves. We can do what we want. We can even.. repeat the good things."

"Yeah. We can," Danny said. He reached a hand down to take hold of Steve's and he guided the finger inside his pussy, pushing it deep into himself. His breathing caught in his throat as Steve crooked the finger inside him and pressed on a really good spot.

"It's a good job I brought a few condoms," Steve smiled and Danny could hear it in his voice and feel it as he pressed light kisses into his neck.

He rolled away to grab for the small packet on the bedside table, ripping it open with his teeth and then getting it over his dick, which was happily beginning to pay attention to what was going on. He rolled Danny away from him and back onto his side, lifting a leg up.

"This is different," Danny said as he felt the lubed up length against him. He hadn't seen Steve grab the bottle, but it was dark. He was just glad the alpha had thought to help ease things again as it really had worked last time in making things better for Danny. 

"There's loads of positions people do it in, right? Guess we've got lots of them to try," he said and then slowly pushed into Danny from behind. Somehow it was easier again - for both of them. Danny giggled. "What is it?" Steve asked. 

Just as Danny said what he'd been thinking about it being easier, he then added. "Practice makes perfect, right?" And Steve got the joke and laughed along with him. The ripple through their bodies even helped push his dick further inside Danny.

The thrusts were slow going at this angle. Steve mouthed against the back of Danny's neck and around to his shoulder, lightly murmuring about how good his dick felt inside Danny. To help out, Danny used his own hand and rubbed his clit. Spotting the motions in the dark, Steve batted his hand away and used his own to try and get Danny closer to orgasm. 

Not really knowing what they were doing, and somehow needing more purchase on the bed, Steve encouraged Danny to turn more onto his stomach. He opened his legs wide for Steve and that seemed to help raise his butt from the bed and Steve let his heavy weight fall onto Danny's back as he fucked him harder from behind. 

Danny moaned, he drooled into the sheets as he gasped at the feeling and then fisted his hands into the pillow. Steve reached for them, grabbing each wrist and putting pressure and weight on them. He lifted up, bracing his hands in the way he was holding onto Danny's wrists and pounded more into him. 

Danny's body was slick with the lube and his own wetness. He was open and willing and found himself goading Steve to go faster, push deeper. There was a feeling deep inside him that still felt empty and he wanted Steve in that spot. 

Steve growled, his teeth clamped down on Danny's collarbone and it made Danny rear back with the sting of the pain, changing the angle of Steve's thrusts to that perfect place they'd found last time and within seconds Danny knew that telltale muscle tightening inside himself and then he was coming. Heat and shivers passing up and down through his body, the contractions of his pussy around Steve's cock, and the dizzy feeling in his head… it all collided.

Then Steve came again and he felt it in more than the stuttering hips and the cut off moans and the way in which Steve collapsed on top of him practically purring in satisfaction.

They lay still for long moments, the darkness enveloping them, helping them float in the aftermath. 

"Danny?"

"Yeah?"

"It happened again," Steve said and Danny knew. He just fucking knew.

"Fuck," he breathed out from where his face was still smushed into the bed sheets. 

Steve dug his hands under Danny's body, wrapping around him and turning them onto their sides again. He reached down to pull the blankets back up around them and he kept them still. He rubbed a hand up and down Danny's bare arm then to his hip and down to his pussy again, feeling around where his dick was still trapped by the knot. "Omegas can have multiple orgasms, right? That's a thing? What would it be like if you had another around my knotted dick?"

"I'm tired out, man. I don't know that it's really possible," Danny answered, but Steve was already stroking his clit, rubbing his fingers in circles over the nub. Danny whimpered a little as everything still felt tender and sensitive but Steve liked the sound and kept going and Danny couldn't help but feel turned on again, not least while a cock was still inside him, pressing against the bits that felt good.

It wasn't like the more explosive orgasms he'd felt before, but it built inside him and he came again, Steve also gasping as his dick felt it. "Oh God, that's good," Steve said as Danny lay tired out, spent. "I was so stupid when I thought I'd never want an omega. Being with a beta is so different. Or it was for me. This is so much better."

"I can't do it again. Not now, anyway. My body feels kinda wrung out," Danny said.

Steve kissed, sucked and licked over Danny's shoulder and nosed at the back of his neck before clamping his teeth down just below where the collar line would be.

"Ow, ow," Danny hissed. "How many places are you gong to mark me?"

"A new one for every time we do it, maybe," Steve murmured after he was done. "I like them."

"Neanderthal," Danny mumbled into the pillow. "Go to sleep."

"I'm still knotted."

"Go to sleep," Danny insisted again, really not caring anymore. Steve just hugged him again, wrapping around him tightly.

*

"I'm being careful," Steve told him in the early morning light. "It slipped down over where the knot was before and I don't want to lose it."

"Condoms can't get lost inside me," Danny admonished. "My pussy isn't the same as a sock-eating dryer."

Steve laughed and then pulled out further, finger gripping the edge of the condom and then he rolled away. "Shit," he said. "There's a tear."

"In the condom?"

"I think we must have moved around in the night too much. It's not like you're supposed to wear them for so long."

"But when did it break? Are you sure it- I mean, if it broke earlier while we were fucking I could-"

Steve held up the condom. "There's spunk in here, and that looks like a lot to me. I really don't think we've got anything to worry about. Relax. If you're really worried then we can go out this afternoon to a clinic and get a morning after pill."

"Oh crap. You said that. You said morning after pill. This is not good."

"It's an option if you're worried. I really don't think you should be." Steve discarded the messy condom into the waste paper basket and came back to the bed to hug Danny. "My cum is in the condom. The tear was higher up, like by the base of my cock. We're fine."

"You're right. You're right, we're fine," Danny nodded and pulled back, one hand over his heart to calm it down. "I'm not going to be a pregnant sixteen year old cliche. I'm not."

Steve took Danny's face in his hands. "My dad will be picking us up in two hours. We'll ride back home, dump our stuff and then I'll come round and we'll take a drive to the walk-in clinic. That'll put your mind at ease."

"Thank you," Danny told him, sincerity pouring out of his panicked mind. 

They showered and dressed, eating a few power bars though Steve had to force Danny to eat his as he'd lost his appetite with the scare. They tidied up the room and even tried to make it look like they hadn't been having sex - embarrassed as they were to leave the signs behind for the housekeeping person to find. 

They made their way back up the hill to the rendezvous point but stayed out of sight of their friends in case Danny said or did something to give his worries away. It was going to be bad enough in the car. 

Once they were picked up, Steve kept an arm around Danny and did most of the talking. Danny smiled and answered politely when he needed to and ignored the strange look John McGarrett gave him. Once home, he ran upstairs and avoided his parents and siblings. He paced his room for a while, clock watching until the doorbell rang a short while later and he ushered Steve back to the car, asking him to hurry. 

Being at the clinic suddenly made him slow down, made him wary. Made him blush with embarrassment as he told the doctor what he wanted. The lady was an omega herself and kept Danny calm. She reassured him with the same things Steve had said and reminded him that although male omegas wern't limited to being in a heat cycle like female omegas were, it was still rare that anything could happen under the conditions he and Steve had sex in. She told him that the condom likely still did its job, but she happily handed him the dose of pills he would need and told him to return if he was worried again.

The two boys sat in the car and didn't leave the car park. The radio played quietly between them. "Did it put you off?" Steve asked. "Did it change things between us?"

"No," Danny reassured him. "I know you said it's just an old wives tale, but things do feel different. Despite the broken condom I still feel different. Better. I can't even explain it. Maybe, I dunno, does sex make you more adult or something?

"I don't think you can judge how adult someone is by when or how often they have sex. If that were the case, then I know of a few really stupid and immature adults."

"True," Danny agreed, realizing what he'd said was dumb. But he was still struggling to understand what the change in him was.

"Maybe feeling better, feeling good, is just a sign of emotional connection. Not the bonding crap our ancestors believed in, but just good old-fashioned feelings. Like… love," Steve suggested, a hopeful look in his eyes.

Danny swallowed a lump in his throat. "Maybe," he said with a wisp of a smile that seemed to reassure Steve but then Danny rubbed his hands over his face and dropped them to his lap. "We've been dating for a week. We're sixteen. How can we know what love is anyway?"

"I think you just know," Steve said and gave Danny a confident look. " _ **I know**_. And if you trust me, then you'll know it's true."

Danny shifted over on the seat so that he could lean into the alpha. "I trust you," he said and Steve kissed into his hair. 

"Maybe one day we'll have kids together," Steve said, wistfully. 

Danny thumped his hand on Steve's chest. "Shut up."

*

"You've barely said two words about how your trip was," Clara said as Danny kept his head down, fork messily digging through his mashed potatoes. 

"It was fine," he said with a shrug, heartbeat racing just a little as he wanted to avoid questioning.

"Did you and Steve have a falling out? I thought that might be the case the way you stomped in here this morning and ran to your room. But then when he picked you up again this afternoon I wasn't sure. Unless that was the pair of you going somewhere to make up."

"Mom," Danny moaned.

She took a long look at him, the way he was acting awkwardly. "Your father will be home from the fire house later this evening if you need him to do anything."

"I don't," Danny said, adamantly. "Steve and I are perfectly fine. We all had a great time on the trail yesterday. This afternoon was just a chance for Steve and I to get some of that shave ice stuff and spend some time on our own. That's all," he lied, but he knew he was convincing.

"That's all?" Clara asked.

"Trust me, Ma. Everything's good."

"I heard you shared a sleeping bag with him," Bridget spoke up. "And that he's your alpha now."

Danny screwed his face up. "Where the hell would you hear anything? You're making crap up!"

"Mary Ann is my friend."

"Well maybe both you and Mary Ann should mind your own businesses," Danny told her. He then saw the smirk on his brothers' face. "And don't you try anything, Matty. I know you were in my room while I was away."

"I was not!"

"Were too!"

"I didn't spring any booby traps!"

"Aha! But you knew I left some!" Danny crowed triumphantly. "You left a candy wrapper in my trash can and it was your favorite kind. So I know you went snooping."

"Matthew Williams, how many times did we discuss you staying out of your brothers' room?" Clara focused her attention on the younger of the Williams boys in order to give him a telling off. After lecturing him about the privacy they all deserved even in such a full house there was a brief moment of quiet as everyone continued eating. 

Clara glanced at Danny again. "Homecoming is just around the corner," she said and Danny dropped his fork. "You think Steve will ask you to go with him?"

"It'll be a group thing, Ma. It's not like prom or anything. And can you please butt out of my relationship?"

"Relationship," Bridget giggled and sing-songed. "So much for the boy who always thought alphas were stupid."

"They are stupid," Danny told her.

"Even dad?" she tested him. 

"Sometimes," Danny answered. "And before you say anything, yes, Steve is stupid as well. I still like him, though."

"Like or love?" Bridget teased. "I bet you loooove him."

"Bridget, that's enough," Clara told her pestering daughter. 

"I'm finished, can I go to my room?" Danny asked, wanting to escape the scrutiny. 

"Of course," Clara told him, a knowing look on her face about Danny's discomfort. She may not see through the straight up lies he spun to cover up where he'd been, but she always had an affinity with knowing how he _felt_. It was a trait he'd picked up himself… was probably to do with being omega.

He thanked her as he circled the table to give her cheek a quick kiss before he headed upstairs to his room. He threw himself on the bed, one hand on his stomach. A fleeting thought about what it would be like if he was carrying Steve's baby. A warmth spread through him but it also made him want to puke. They were way too young and had so much more ahead of them and he didn't want to be worrying about pregnancy every time they were together. As much as he had loved the sex they'd had he knew they needed to cool things off a bit. But how on Earth would he approach that topic with Steve?


	6. Chapter 6

Danny hadn't been hungry so he'd skipped the cafeteria entirely and gone to sit in his favorite spot on the school grounds. He sat with his back to the tree and his arms wrapped around his knees as he stared off into the distance.

The sound of a twig snapping in the soft grass behind him alerted him to a presence approaching, then Steve sat next to him and offered him a candy bar. "You need to eat something," the alpha said. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong. I just wanted some space."

Steve nodded but then brazenly put his arm around Danny and hugged him close. Danny tensed at the action considering he'd planned to just be here alone and try not to get bogged down in every terrible thought running through his head about how fast things were going, how small things could fuck up their futures, how this kind of thing wouldn't have happened back in Jersey (well, he wouldn't have met Steve if he were still back home). 

Slowly he relaxed. Steve's warmth settled him in an almost pavlovian way - he just couldn't help it. Before he even realized, Steve's lips were on him, he was falling to the side and Steve was moving over on top of him and they were making out greedily. Steve's hips rocked forward against Danny and it zinged an actual thought into his brain; one that wasn't suppressed by his love for the alpha. "Wait, wait," he pulled his head back. "What the fuck are we doing, this is school!"

"No one can see us here," Steve told him, hands still roaming over Danny's side and down to his thigh. 

"The bell will go soon," Danny warned the alpha, but Steve was transfixed. He lifted a hand to pull at the neck of Danny's t-shirt to expose the bite marks to his gaze and he hummed in satisfaction to see them, ducking his head into Danny's neck and licking against them. "Steve! Seriously, hey!" He manhandled Steve's head back up, holding it tightly between both his hands.

"What?" Steve asked and Danny noticed once again how sometimes it looked like Steve was drunk when they got intimate. And like he'd lost some of his control. Of course.

"Hey, alpha boy, rein it in. Your dad warned you about this, remember? Control the alpha."

Steve took a breath, one hand gripped into Danny's thigh. He looked down and then leaned forward, pressing his forehead to Danny's shoulder. "Sorry, baby. I swear it's getting harder. I just want to be in you all the time."

"You mean with me."

Steve lifted his head. "No, I mean _in_ you. The alpha is fucking desperate to just take you into a bedroom and keep you there until… well, until." He let the sentence hang. "I know my father keeps warning me about stuff but I never took him seriously before. How can anyone just be so overcome with that kind of need, you know? Like… get a grip."

Danny just shook his head and huffed a laugh at how obtuse Steve was being. He pushed Steve off him. "I'm serious this time. We need to cool things off. The last thing we need is to be so distracted by each other that our grades slip, or our parents notice something weird. And you've got a big game coming up. Coach White needs you at the top of your game. Chin's supposed to be back training soon, you're supposed to be giving him a run for his money and you can't do that if all you're thinking about is us in bed together."

"You're right," Steve said, nodding his head determinedly. "It's all about balance. School, football, us. We'll work it out. Speaking of the big game. It's traditional here at Kukui that the team all have proper dates for the homecoming dance. Mainly because they do this thing where it's only the team and their dates on the dance floor for a song after they announce us into the auditorium."

"Announce?"

"So before they do the whole homecoming royalty thing, part of the formality is to introduce all the members of the team who played in the homecoming game. I mean it's all tied together, right? It's incredibly cheesy and I don't even think other schools do it our way but it's how it is. My point is, I don't know if you want to coordinate what we wear or anything? Some couples do that."

"I think we'll be fine."

"Okay," Steve beamed at Danny. The question hadn't been asked but Steve acted like it had since Danny hadn't shot him down about going together. The assumption made sense, so Danny wasn't going to call him out on it.

The bell rang and both boys turned their head to the sound. Steve deflated a little, knowing they were going to different classes for the whole afternoon. 

"I got practice after. You going to be there?"

"Not today," Danny told him. "I'm thinking we start putting the whole 'time apart' thing into motion. Besides, no offense, but watching you get yelled at by Coach White for an hour isn't my idea of a fun afternoon."

"Fine," Steve grumbled. With both of them now standing, bags slung over their shoulders, Steve pulled Danny close and kissed him. "This time apart thing kinda sucks."

*

A few days later, after Danny had struggled to concentrate on his book because of the screams and giggles emanating from his sister's bedroom, he made his way downstairs to discover an extra place set at the table for dinner. 

"Is dad coming home early?" he asked only for his mother to shake her head. 

"Bridget asked if Mary Ann could stay for dinner. I thought it would be nice to get to know at least one of the McGarrett children over a meal."

Danny rolled his eyes at the blatant dig from his mom. "Take a wild guess as to why I haven't invited Steve round," he told her. 

She ruffled his hair and put on a baby voice, "I promise I won't embarrass you."

"That right there is exactly why you're so embarrassing!" he complained before his siblings arrived, thundering down the stairs.

Dinner was fine. Everyone had been pleasant and small talk had consisted with conversation about school, about Hawaii, about hobbies. It turned out that both moms had been talking to each other sometimes even though Danny had no idea that his mom and Mrs McGarrett had ever met.

As Clara brought out some cookies for everyone to have as a dessert she left them alone with strict instructions that Danny was due to do the dishes that night. She went to Eddie's study for some peace and quiet while she graded some papers. Matty took the opportunity to flee to his room where he could play his video games.

Mary Ann and Bridget looked at each other conspiratorially in a tween way while sitting at the table, scoffing their cookies and watching Danny collect the plates up and take them to the sink.

"What's so funny?" Danny asked as the sink filled with water and he heard the girls giggling again and speaking in hushed tones.

"I'm trying to get Mary Ann to do her Steve impression for you," Bridget said. 

"Oh yeah? I bet it's just as awful as your impression of me."

"My 'Danny' is spot on," she protested. "It's all 'grr I'm a tough omega, no alpha will ever tame me' and a lot of checking your hair is perfect."

Mary Ann laughed. "Steve is easy, too. He used to just be really boring acting like a stuck up alpha but now it's all goo goo eyes over you." she stood and became very dramatic with her hand over her heart. "Oh Danny! I love you! Be mine! Let me hold you and we can make out forever!" She flung herself at him, clutching around his waist and he yelped as he almost dropped of sopping wet dinner plate.

"Jeez!" he laughed with them as he pushed her off. "Steve has never said any of that. We act just like normal," he told them. 

"No you don't. You should see yourselves when you walk to school in the morning."

Danny cleared his throat and tried to stop a blush from creeping onto his face. He kept staring at the plates and cutlery like it was all that mattered. 

Mary Ann continued. "You should have seen dad's face when Steve told him you had his letter jacket."

"He was angry?" Danny asked, concerned. Steve had never said anything but Danny knew those jackets were expensive and he did worry about having it.

"No," Mary Ann said, leaning near him. "He just did this nod thing and gave Steve a look and said to make sure he got it back at some point, especially if you both broke up. And Steve just said 'that won't happen' and the look on dad's face got more serious."

Danny made a noncommittal sound and as the girls got back to prancing around the place he shooed them out before they got in his way and made him break something. 

He was finishing up in the kitchen when there was a knock on the door. Since he was the only person downstairs he answered it to find Steve there. "Hey," he greeted. 

"Hey, good looking," he stepped closer, leaning a hip on the door frame and reaching to take Danny's hand loosely. "Mom sent me to come pick up my sister. I had no idea she was round here until I was yelled at to come get her. Has she been a complete pain? Because that would sound about right."

"She and Bridget have been noisy and annoying," Danny nodded. "No surprise there. Let me get them," he didn't bother to go anywhere, just turned his head and yelled up the stairs at the top of his lungs. "BRIDGET!!"

The girls appeared at the top of the stairs. 

"Steve's here to take you home, Mary Ann."

"Urgh," she complained. "I'm twelve. I could walk home myself."

"Mom doesn't think so. You think I _wanted_ to come round here to fetch you?" Steve asked her. 

"Uh, yeah," His sister said as she came down the stairs. "You wanted to come spend some time with your boyfriend."

Steve turned back to Danny and lowered his voice. "Genuinely the only reason I didn't put up much of a protest when I was told where to pick her up from."

"Told ya," Mary Ann said as she brushed by them, speaking to Danny. "Goo goo eyes."

"I don't have goo goo eyes," Steve swatted at his sister as she passed him by, heading towards the gate. "Don't go anywhere without me!" Steve yelled after her. Bridget wiggled past them both and joined Mary Ann, talking between themselves. Steve took the opportunity to pull Danny out of the house and bracket him against the wall away from the door. "Come here," he said as he stood with his leg braced between Danny's.

They shared light, enjoyable kisses. Their tongues met sloppily but it still held a lighter, easy touch. It wasn't the kind of deep, blood pounding kiss that shut the world out. In fact, the world rudely interrupted with the sound of tween girls telling them how gross they were being.

Steve pulled back and turned to give his sister a long, hard, alpha stare and the beta in her backed off. Danny's hands held at Steve's elbows and he ducked his head into Steve's neck, breathing deep and hugging into him. In response, Steve pulled him forward away from the wall and into a tight embrace, a hand carding through Danny's hair. 

"Come on! Let's go!" Mary Ann grumbled. "Before they send out the search party."

"Pretty sure mom knew I'd take my time," Steve smiled and kissed Danny's temple. 

As the shorter boy pulled back, Steve touched his cheek then took the opportunity to nip his teeth in a grazing touch to the omega's neck. "See you tomorrow, handsome," he teased as he pulled back. Their hands lingered in hold and were the last of the physical touch they shared before letting go.

Steve waved from the gate as he pushed his sister in front of him.

Bridget stopped in front of him. "You're so cute together it's sickening," she said.

Danny slapped the back of her head, ignoring the 'ow' and shoved her inside the house.

Closing the door he leaned on it for a moment. He hadn't liked saying goodnight. It was the first time he felt he'd been the most reluctant to let go. He really was falling in love. And as first loves go, Steve was going to be an amazing one. 

Maybe they were getting to a point where they'd properly say it to each other. It always seemed in the movies like saying it was a big moment.

Maybe at homecoming. Maybe while dancing to a slow song, both of them dressed nice and looking their best under a disco ball and sparkling decorations right when Steve was in a good mood from winning the game and keeping his spot on the varsity team and Danny was so proud of him. 

He sighed. Bridget was right, he was sickeningly sweet when he thought about Steve.


	7. Chapter 7

“We can’t skip class, we’ll get in trouble,” Danny told Steve as he pushed him back. The janitor’s closet was small and cramped and they were pressed up against the door so no one else could get in without them knowing. “You need to rein it in,” he told the alpha. 

Steve gave him a dark look as his hands skirted down Danny’s arms. “You’re one to talk. You dragged me in here.”

“I know. And I’m sorry-”

“Don’t be sorry. I think it’s one of the best ideas you’ve had,” Steve wiggled his eyebrows and kissed Danny again. Both moaned into the contact and Danny felt his arms as if by their own volition wrap around Steve’s neck again. As they pulled apart, he buried his head in Steve’s neck and breathed deeply.

“I’m sorry because I let what I wanted get the better of me. And I’ve yelled at you before to get yourself under control. It makes me a hypocrite,” Danny told him. 

Steve sighed as he ran a hand through Danny’s hair. “I’m just glad I’m not alone in how much I might struggle to control that part of myself.” He pulled back, cupping Danny’s face. “I want to be with you all the time.”

“Same. But we’ve got to get to class,” Danny answered as the first bell rang to signal the end of the break. “I’ll meet you after and we can walk home. There’s no football practice today, right?”

“Yeah, I got the day off. Come back to mine with me after school and we can study. Mary Ann’s got a surf lesson so we’ll get some-”

“Privacy?” Danny asked with a hint of a smile though he didn’t want Steve to think too much or expect anything just because they might get some alone time.

“Peace,” Steve said instead. “Mom will probably still be around.”

“Right,” Danny said and leaned up and kissed Steve again, pulling back before they could get too comfortable. 

As the second bell rang, they carefully ducked out of the closet before anyone could notice. Danny rubbed absently at his lips as he hiked his backpack onto his shoulders and made his way towards his math class.

*

“Hi, Mrs. McGarrett,” Danny said as they walked into Steve’s house, dropping their bags beside the couch and making their way hungrily into the kitchen. 

“Hi, mom,” Steve said as he raided the fridge. 

“Boys, don’t pig out, dinner will be in just a couple of hours,” she warned. “How was school?”

“Fine,” Steve answered. “They decided on a theme for homecoming.”

“Oh yeah? What is it?” she asked. 

Danny sullenly answered for them. “The beach.”

“You don’t like it?” Doris asked as she sat back from the table, now ignoring the grading in front of her.

“He hates the beach,” Steve supplied for him but did it with a cheeky smile.

“Whether or not I hate the beach isn’t the issue. This is an island. It’s literally surrounded by beach. What, they couldn’t come up with something a little different? Oh hey, I got an idea. Let’s bring all that sand from outside... inside! There’s a theme! Yeah, right, real original,” he scoffed.

“Maybe they were worried about budget,” Doris put in being diplomatic.

“Maybe they’ve got no imagination,” Danny countered.

“Maybe if you’d been on the committee you’d have swayed them with another idea. But you’re not on the committee so it’s not up to you,” Steve told him in an indulgent alpha tone. “Personally, I like it. Getting to wear board shorts and t-shirts to a dance sounds great to me.”

“I hate to break it to you, Stevie, but you’ll still be in a tux. It’s just the decorations that will be themed,” Doris reminded him.

Steve leaned back against the counter and opened a can of coke. “Well then, the theme is even less relevant and there’s no need for anyone to get their panties in a twist,” he said with eyes in Danny’s direction. 

“Can’t you see any positives in it, Danny?” Doris asked.

“Maybe uh,” he thought about it. “I guess at least it’s not themed for ‘enchantment under the sea’ or something. That’s just too 1950s for me to handle.”

Steve snorted as he laughed and Doris hid her smile behind her hand. 

“We’ve got homework to do,” Steve said as he grabbed some potato chips from the pantry with one hand and Danny’s arm by the other. “We’d better get started.”

“Thanks for the food, Mrs. McGarrett,” Danny said as he was unceremoniously dragged from the room. 

An hour later, Doris’ voice drifted up to Steve’s room from the bottom of the stairs letting them know she was going out to pick Mary Ann up from her surf lesson and she wouldn’t be long. Steve yelled back down at her with an ‘okay’ and then put his history book aside.

Danny continued to jot down the answer to the question in front of him and it took him a second to realize he was being stared at. His eyes lifted first and then his head as he looked at Steve’s smiling face. “What?”

“What what?” Steve asked, a little stupidly.

“What what? You’re the one staring at me?”

“I was just thinking about homecoming. I think you’d look cute if you dressed like a surfer boy. Low-slung board shorts, the smell of suntan lotion... and you’ve already got the hair for it.”

“I’ll be in a tux just like everyone else.”

“Omegas do what their alphas want them to,” Steve said as he ignored the way his book fell to the ground in front of them.

“A hundred years ago, maybe. But that’s not the case now and you know that because we’re studying how important omega rights became after the First World War.”

“You know,” Steve began, trying to be flirtatious. “When we were studying biology together before, we did better because we lived it. You know? We looked, we touched, we acted it all out. Maybe we should try that for history, too?”

“Not happening, babe. I’m not your omega doll to play with,” Danny told him. 

Steve pouted and leaned forward while Danny finished writing more answers. “I’m just saying, it could be fun to play a little.”

“Play? Sure... maybe when we know we won’t get interrupted.”

“We’re alone now, we got at least another twenty minutes,” Steve leaned in and began kissing into Danny’s neck while reaching for the other boy’s arm, sliding his hand down over his wrist and to his hand, making him drop his pen. He then guided it towards his crotch, letting Danny feel the hardness of his alpha dick. Danny squeezed lightly. “Will you use your mouth?” Steve asked in Danny’s ear. 

“It has to be quick,” Danny warned, though his voice was thick with a growing arousal. 

“I could practically come just with the thought of your mouth wrapped around my dick. Trust me, it’ll be fast.”

“Okay,” Danny agreed as he slid off the bed and onto his knees. He positioned himself in front of Steve while the other boy popped the button on his pants and lowered the zip. Danny’s hand joined as he pulled Steve’s cock out of his underwear and with a quick breath he leaned in and took Steve as deep as he could before slowly pulling back, lips wrapped tightly around the length, eyes wide as they looked up into Steve’s. 

“Fuck,” Steve mouthed as he lifted his hips to follow Danny’s retreating mouth. He’d never had this before. A mouth felt so different to a pussy, and the way Danny’s tongue seemed to flick around added something different to the new experience.

Danny pulled back to breathe then sucked at the head of Steve’s cock, tasting the saltiness of his pre-cum before he licked up the underside and around the head. “I don’t really know what’s good,” Danny told him, a shyness creeping into his voice.

“Anything is good,” Steve said. 

“But I don’t-” Danny tried, but he just didn’t know enough about what he was doing beyond the fact that biting was bad. “Maybe it’s best if you show me. Like... just take control and fuck my mouth.”

“Are you sure? I don’t want to hurt you,” Steve said. 

“If I don’t like it, then I’ll say something.”

“How? You’ll have my dick in your mouth.”

“Good point. I’ll,” he reached for his pen. “I’ll stab you in the thigh with this,” he said. 

Steve took a beat but then agreed, too eager to care. “Okay. You sure?”

“You wanted a chance to be all alpha. Take it,” Danny told him with a smirk that laid down the challenge but also showed he was indulging the alpha despite both boys’ inexperience with this. 

Steve’s grin spread wide. He scooted forward on the bed then stood so he towered more over the omega. He ran a hand over Danny’s head then grasped into the strands of hair as he lined up at the omega’s mouth again. The tip of his cock ran around Danny’s lips and then he pushed it inside and began a rhythm, in and out. The wet heat of Danny’s mouth was one thing, but seeing him on his knees was something else. The alpha in him preened and felt a deep satisfaction that radiated through his body and far too quickly he was spilling. He pulled out of Danny’s mouth and used his hand to jack off the last of the cum and he aimed it back into Danny’s open mouth, watching as it landed on the omega’s tongue.

Danny closed his mouth and swallowed and Steve shivered to see Danny’s tongue clean. He squeezed out the last of his cum and some of it landed on Danny’s cheek and chin and he delighted in using his fingers to push it into Danny’s mouth, watching him swallow again. 

“How does it taste?”

“I dunno,” Danny said. “Not great, but not exactly bad either.”

Steve pulled Danny to his feet and wrapped a hand around the back of his neck as he pulled him in for a kiss. “You okay?”

“I thought I might gag a couple of times. It’s weird having a dick at the back of your throat.”

Steve smiled. “Just so long as I didn’t put you off doing it again sometime.”

“We should open a window and get back to our history quiz.”

“What about you? Aren’t you wet?”

“Yeah, but-”

Steve stopped him. “If you’re wet for me, I want to do something for you, too.” He reached down the waistband of Danny’s pants, eliciting a surprised breath from the omega. His fingers deftly got into Danny’s underwear and snaked their way lower and behind his dick, flicking over Danny’s clit and circling his pussy, feeling just how wet he was.

He pushed his middle finger inside and the slickness made it easy. He pumped the finger slowly in and out. Danny was getting more experienced at having something inside him but it would still help to let him get used to the feeling.

Steve lifted one of Danny’s legs to help his access but it also meant Danny had to grip into Steve’s biceps and lean on him. Steve looked down between them and happily watched the way his own hand’s outline was obvious inside Danny’s pants. He sped up and pressed a second finger in with the first, pistoning his hand in and out of Danny so fast it made the omega tense and curl further into Steve, forehead pressing to the alpha’s shoulder.

“Steve, fuck, yes, almost,” Danny said, thoughts jerky and only able to manage one word at a time until he was coming, pulsing around Steve’s fingers and slick oozing out of his dick and wetting his underwear further. Steve kept his fingers inside Danny, moving gently as the pulses slowed.

Danny’s leg slid back to the ground so he could stand on his own again but Steve’s hand stayed where it was, gently petting Danny’s pussy and clit. He ducked his head into Danny’s neck, snuffling gently under the collar of his t-shirt. He used his spare hand to pull the material aside to where the fading marks were and then bit down again. 

Danny stretched into it and clutched tighter to Steve as they swayed together. Steve finally pulled his hand out of Danny’s pants and hugged him close as he licked the mark he had made. He lifted Danny up from the ground and turned them until they both collapsed onto the bed, Danny underneath and wincing at the way his history book was poking into his back. 

“Feel better?” Danny asked as Steve braced himself on top. 

“Any kind of sex with you always makes me feel better.”

They lazily made out for a while until the sound of a door banging closed made them tense. Steve shot up from the bed and quickly locked his own door, worried that Mary Ann would charge in to annoy them. He went to the window and opened it to let in fresh air while Danny made a point of getting his hair to look normal again. 

Realizing the time, Danny packed away his school work and grabbed his bag. “I should get home. Mom will be wondering where I am.”

“You could stay for dinner?” Steve suggested. 

“Dad’s on a late shift. I like to be around to help Ma with stuff when I know dad’s not going to be around.”

They made their way downstairs and Doris came back into the living room. “Studying all done?”

“Yeah,” Steve said, hoping he wasn’t blushing.

“Danny, you’re welcome to stay for dinner. We’re just ordering pizza. Nothing fancy.”

“I’ve got to get home, but thank you, Mrs. McGarrett, for offering.”

“Next time,” she smiled at him. 

The two boys stood just outside the front door and Steve closed it over so they could say goodbye in peace. He reached for Danny’s hip and moved in to kiss him. “Last chance for pizza,” he said and then cupped Danny’s face as they kissed again. 

“Do me a favor?” Danny asked, ignoring the repeated offer.

“Sure.”

“Wash your hands before dinner. I can still smell myself on your fingers.”

Steve smiled. “Maybe I won’t. Maybe ham and pineapple taste better that way.”

“That right there is why I’m not staying,” Danny said and Steve laughed. 

“Because I made a joke about tasting your slick on my pizza?”

“Because your taste in pizza is terrible. Pineapple does not belong in the same zip code as a good slice. I’ll see you tomorrow.”


	8. Chapter 8

They were falling into something of a routine. Steve would stop by at Danny’s house on the way to school and wait for him at the gate until he came out. They’d walk the rest together and Steve would take Danny all the way to his locker before they’d split apart and head to class. They only shared three classes: biology, history, and literature so most of the time they were apart except for when they met up at lunch.

With the Homecoming game coming up fast, Steve had a lot of practices so having the previous day off had been a luxury and they’d certainly made the best of it. 

Now Steve was trying to convince Danny to hang out with him on Saturday even though he really needed to head into the locker room for that day’s practice.

“But don’t you have to do homework? With all these extra practices, aren’t you behind?”

Steve shook his head. “Coach White does what he can to buy us some extra time on assignments for a couple of weeks. And we need to blow off some steam before the game. It’s traditional.”

“It’s the beach. You know how I feel about that.”

“Come on, Danny. Don’t deprive me of the chance to see you in swim trunks,” Steve pouted at him, tugging on his arm. 

Apparently, the weekend before the homecoming game and dance was spent with a whole bunch of the school having a Saturday afternoon at the beach together and a barbecue at night. Danny hadn’t actually told anyone in Hawaii why he hated the beach so all through Friday he’d been getting people bugging him about going. Freddie had joked with him about all the cool things they could do, Malia had made some assumption that it was about melanoma or something and had been convincing him that lotion worked and it was good for him to spend time in the sun and Steve? Steve had tried every tactic in the book and now it seemed was resorting to guilt-tripping. 

“I won’t have any fun without you there, too,” Steve told him again, pulling a face and jutting out his bottom lip. 

“So your happiness is completely dependent on me?” He asked, trying to catch the alpha out but if anything, it did the opposite. 

“Always,” Steve smiled, and it tugged at Danny’s heart. It was just one word and one toothy smile, but the look in Steve’s eyes said it wasn’t a joke answer and it flattered Danny so much that it made him falter. 

“Fine, but I draw the line at surfing. You will not be getting me out on the water. I’ll sit with a book on dry land, thank you very much.”

“We’ll see,” Steve said before leaning down to kiss Danny before he could say anything back. “Tonight’s going to be a longer practice, so I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Yeah,” Danny agreed, finally letting go of Steve’s hand he didn’t even realize he was holding.

*

Danny answered the door and Steve took one look at him and just said, “No.”

“What? What’s wrong?”

“You are not wearing that to the beach.”

“We told him he looked stupid, but he didn’t listen to us,” Matthew said as he butted in. 

“Hi Matty,” Steve said. “Does your brother own any other pairs of shorts?” he asked as he looked down over Danny’s knee-length cut-off jeans.

“Probably not.”

“Then it’s a good job I brought a spare pair just in case.”

“Why would you ever need a spare pair of shorts?” Danny asked as Steve stepped inside the house and began rummaging through his bag.

“I honestly thought I’d turn up here, and you’d be in jeans. The cut-offs are actually a step in the right direction. Just not far enough. Here,” he said as he brandished a pair of board shorts. 

Red and a little bit shorter than the cut-offs he was wearing, Danny took them from Steve, pinching them between his thumb and forefinger. “I hate you,” he said.

“If you go to the beach in those,” Steve indicated Danny’s cut-offs, “you’ll stand out a lot more than if you wear boardies. If it makes you feel better, you can take the cut-offs with you in your bag but trust me, these are going to help you blend in more.”

“Who said I wanted to blend in?”

Steve took hold of Danny’s shoulders and spun him around, pushing him up the stairs while Matty laughed from below. “Just put them on.”

Steve closed Danny’s bedroom door behind them and immediately pulled at his fly. 

“Hey, now is not the time, my mom is downstairs!” Danny tried to scoot away but Steve’s arms seemed to. be everywhere. 

“I’m not trying to feel you up, I’m trying to hurry you up,” Steve answered. “Although...” he got his hand down the back of Danny’s pants and pinched against an ass cheek. 

“If you take your hand out of my pants, I’ll get changed,” Danny gave up, though there was a slight possibility that Steve would change his mind if something else was on the cards. But he did, reluctantly - and slowly - take his hand out and then hold both up innocently. 

“Just hurry up. If we don’t get there soon, we’ll miss getting a good spot.”

Danny had no modesty around Steve. Not anymore. He dropped his pants and threw them onto his bed before following suit with his underwear and then pulled the swim shorts on; making sure his white t-shirt wasn’t tucked into them anywhere. “There’s such a thing as a good spot at the beach?”

“Not too near the water, not too far from it either. Close to where we get parked and not too far from the beach volleyball court but also in a place we’re less likely to get hit by any soccer balls. And somewhere we can maybe get a little bit of privacy without being anti-social.”

Danny just gave Steve a wide-eyed look. “Wow. That’s... detailed.”

“I know exactly where I want us to put our towels down. It just means you need to hurry up.”

“Okay, okay, who knew a day at the beach had to be so regimented.”

*

Danny leaned back on his arms, his legs crossed at the ankles and his sunglasses were firmly in place. He’d been convinced to take his t-shirt off and though he’d been hesitant because of the marks on his body from Steve’s bites he’d given in, and no one had made any comments. He’d seen similar bites on Malia and Kelly above the lines of their swimsuits so as much as any of them may be hiding things from their parents, they weren't so shy around each other. 

He’d lathered sun cream all over himself (telling Steve to get away from him and just go surf goddamnit, he could do it himself) and now he felt like sand was attracted to him in some kind of magnetic pull; with every slight breeze he seemed to wind up with more on him and it aggravated his skin. But he was having a modicum of fun as he watched Steve fall off a surfboard. 

The alpha was having fun in the waves with everyone and Danny had effectively volunteered to keep an eye on everyone’s stuff. Billy and Catherine were playing volleyball nearby against some other kids from school Danny didn’t know yet. The other athletic kids were either playing soccer, frisbee or surfing. There were a few others dotted around like him who were either keeping an eye on belongings or were deep in conversation... or making out. And a few others - it looked like Kamekona and his younger cousin - were on the grass at the edge of the beach setting up a gazebo in the school’s colors and making space for where they planned to have the barbecue.

After watching Steve wipe out again, Danny lay back on the towel and stared up at the bright blue sky, marveling at the fact that it was Fall and he was at a beach in the blazing, warm sunshine. He was lost in thought about what his friends back home would be thinking and what they were up to when a shadow crossed his eye line and then he was dripped on profusely. 

“Hey!” he spluttered as he held a hand up to stop the drips landing on his face.

Steve just leaned down further and shook his head like a dog to get the water droplets off himself and onto Danny while he laughed. “Come in the water with me.”

“What did I say about surfing?”

“It’s not surfing, it’s swimming. You can’t come to the beach and just sit on a towel all day.”

“Yes, I can.”

“Not while I’m around. Come on,” Steve reached for Danny’s arm, grabbing him tightly by the wrist and pulling him to his feet. 

“Why can you never take no for an answer?” Danny asked. 

Steve stepped closer, put his wet arms around Danny’s waist and he swayed them. “I think the real question is, why can’t you ever stick to your guns when I keep asking you things.”

Steve had point. And it irritated. And Danny was also getting wet from where Steve’s shorts pressed against his own and before he knew it, he was being led down to the water and dragged in. The waves lapped at his ankles, and then his knees. The ocean here was warmer than he expected and being in the water made him remember what he was missing, but the fear still existed inside him and he tensed once the water was reaching his waist. 

Steve noticed the way Danny’s hand gripped into his own and the fact that his face shouldn’t be so pale when standing under a strong sun. 

“What is it?” Steve asked, looking around them. 

“I, uh, I’m not doing this,” he answered, though he was rooted to the spot and not heading back to shore.

Steve turned, sheltering Danny from the majority of the bumping waves and held onto his hips. “Talk to me.”

“I used to love swimming. But last year, there was a thing. I was swimming with a friend, we were racing out to a buoy and back but... there was a riptide or whatever and I got caught in it. Billy was there, he got me back, but it was close. We both almost drowned.”

“Why didn’t you say anything before? I’ve been making fun of you about this.”

Danny shook his head, recognizing that Steve would always have been more sympathetic if he knew the reason behind Danny’s fears. “I’m an omega. I’ve always been cocky about what I can do that omegas never used to be able to - and in Hawaii still seem restricted from. I got into a competition with an alpha and I almost drowned. In some ways it was worse because so many people told me I shouldn’t have gone out so far because I’m an omega and not strong enough. It was like it was inevitable I’d get in trouble or something and I proved them right.”

“That’s bullshit and you know it.”

Danny shrugged, hating to bring down the party atmosphere of the afternoon with a sob story. And it was something that alternately made him angry or filled him with doubts. Anger he could be seen as weaker, anger that people made assumptions because he was an omega. But the doubts crackled in his brain because of those exact same thoughts - that he was a weaker sub-gender, that he didn’t have the brute strength of an alpha, that he should ‘learn his place’ and stay safely within those parameters. 

“Do you want to go back?” Steve asked and Danny was silent a little longer. Further doubts invading his mind about his own skills, and about the power the waves had to hurt him. But was he also weak for giving into his fear? Steve cupped Danny’s neck. “Hey, you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. It changes nothing about how awesome you are.”

Danny quirked a smile. Steve was an accomplished swimmer, a half-decent surfer when he could stay on the board and he wanted to go into the Navy. If Danny was going to go into the water with anyone ever again, it would be Steve. Maybe facing his fear was a good thing. He couldn’t avoid the water forever, right? Not when he lived in a rock surrounded by water. “Maybe a little further,” he said.

Steve was careful with him and they bounced through the waves until Danny wouldn’t be able to keep his feet on the sand anymore and that was far enough for a first time out in the ocean since he nearly died in it. Steve wrapped his arms around Danny and distracted him with kisses. His hands slipped under the waistband of Danny’s borrowed shorts and he cupped Danny’s ass as he rubbed their noses together. “I told you it was better to wear these. The elastic waist is so much easier to get around than a button fly.”

“So your entire plan was to get me in the water so you could feel me up?”

“Most of my plans revolve around touching you or getting to see you with the least amount of clothing possible.”

“Neanderthal,” Danny admonished the alpha but there was no sting in his words.

“If I could get away with it, I’d drop our shorts and shove my dick inside you and fuck you hard and fast.”

“You want to fuck me in front of all these people?” Danny teasingly asked.

Steve just growled low in response and ducked his head into Danny’s neck, licking the salt water on his skin and beginning to suck a new hickey against his collarbone. Danny’s hand grasped into Steve’s hair, his concentration firmly on the feel of Steve’s mouth on his skin, but when Steve’s fingers delved further around under his shorts, he gasped and jumping up into the next wave and got his legs around Steve’s waist. 

Steve did his best to hold his balance with Danny in his arms but it was short lived and they went crashing into the water together only to resurface a few moments later. Steve seemed worried that it had affected Danny, but the omega just laughed and splashed at Steve as he got his footing again. 

“Race you back!” he said then took off in a front crawl back to the shore, with the alpha chasing behind.

*

A boombox somewhere was playing a soft rock radio station, and the barbecue was sizzling with burgers on it. A campfire had been built on the edge of the beach and a big metal pot filled with seawater and hunks of corn was hanging above it. Coolers were littered around the place with cans of soda (and the occasional can of something else). Steve had brought a cooler of his own that he’d taken out of the trunk of the Marquis earlier and he’d brought chips to add to the collection of food. 

Danny hadn’t been asked to bring anything beyond himself but it seemed this was somehow a well-practiced operation with everyone at the school knowing what needed to be brought and there was very little overlap in items. Though that might be because it seemed Kamekona was a young entrepreneur who had brought a mountain of food and was charging the others a couple of dollars ‘to cover his costs’. Yeah, and then some. But Danny had handed over his money for burgers for him and Steve and they’d actually been really good.

Everything had turned more relaxed than the frenetic activity of the daytime. Billy and Catherine were nearby celebrating their beach volleyball win. Meka and Amy were in a group with the other baseball players all hanging around by the fire pit and talking about TV shows. And Freddie and Kelly were... well they’d gone off to Freddie’s car and were steaming up the windows. 

Steve was sitting atop the picnic table, his feet on the bench. Danny was between his legs, an arm resting along Steve’s thigh, his head perpetually turning up to talk to Steve or just resting back against his torso. 

Chin and Malia were sitting with them, though they were side by side, Chin’s arm slung over Malia’s shoulder. 

The Hawaiian sun had done a good job of drying them though they’d had their towels with them. Danny was back in his cut-offs and as he didn’t really want the damp board shorts against his skin, but Steve wasn’t caring and kept his on, and with the way they were sitting, Danny was close enough to soak up a little of that dampness into his t-shirt. 

“I’m just saying they could use some more writers, is all,” Chin said. He’d been trying to convince Danny to start writing for the school newspaper knowing he excelled in English and didn’t have any extracurriculars currently.

“I appreciate the vote of confidence, but I’d rather stick to getting my bearings for the time being. Maybe in the spring I’ll have time for something else.”

“I dunno,” Steve put in, a hand rubbing up and down Danny’s arm. “I figured I’d keep you busy enough.”

Danny knocked his elbow against Steve’s side in response, but the alpha just laughed and leaned down, draping himself over Danny from behind. 

“So you guys are Homecoming king and queen?” Danny asked, ignoring Steve’s suggestiveness and his grabby hands as much as possible. 

“It’s not official yet,” Malia said. “But vice-principal Mahoe pretty much confirmed it with us already. They wouldn’t normally tell us so far in advance but she and my mom are friends and so it kind of came out already.”

“Well, congratulations,” Danny told them. 

“It could be you next year,” Chin said. “Especially once Steve gets my spot as starting quarterback.”

“That’s a long way away. We might not even be together by then,” Danny pointed out but no one at the table thought it possible and both Chin and Malia scoffed while Steve dug his hand into Danny’s forearm. “Hey, take it easy, babe. I need to use this arm, try not to break it.”

“Then don’t joke about us breaking up,” Steve warned him with a mocking tone though Danny could hear the note of seriousness that Steve tried to hide. He burrowed back into Steve’s chest, allowing the alpha to cocoon him as the conversation went quiet and almost contemplative. 

Then someone changed the music and Danny’s hackles were raised. “Hey! Put that back on! You don’t just turn off Bon Jovi like that! Show some respect, the man is a genius!”


End file.
